The Knesset Finance Committee chairman and haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Arab MKs sharply attacked Ministry of Finance budget director Amir Levy for a presentation portraying the expected growth in the proportion of haredim and Arabs in the population as a problem.
At the beginning of the Knesset Finance Committee session at which the state budget was presented, Levy presented the Ministry of Finance's forecast showing that the haredim and Arabs would account for half of Israel's population by 2050. The MKs on the committee strongly protested the portrayal of haredim and Arabs as a "national problem."
"If you are bringing this slide to show that the haredim and the Arabs are taking over the country, that is a very grave thing," Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) told Levy. Levy defended himself by saying that he had only been trying to highlight the problem in the low levels of employment among Arabs and haredim in order to encourage addressing the problem.
In view of the sharp fall in the growth rate since the beginning of the year, Ministry of Finance director general Shai Babad said that the Ministry of Finance "had no magic solution" for bolstering growth. He added, "Slower growth is a result of a problem with exports and investments. We are not recycling press releases, and there are many steps we will take simultaneously."
Levy said the drop in growth was the first problem worrying the Ministry of Finance. He also attributed it to a fall in investments and exports, which he called "warning signs." According to Central Bureau of Statistics figures, exports plummeted 11% in the first quarter and 12.5% in the second quarter. Investments were down 8% and 3.8% in the first and second quarters, respectively.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 6, 2015
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2015