The cost of putting out the wave of fires in Israel in recent days is estimated in the hundreds of millions of shekels, sources inform "Globes." The costs include round-the-clock use of thousands of firefighters and security and rescue personnel, firefighting materials, and foreign airplanes sent to Israel.
The most prominent expense is hiring the supertanker and bringing it to Israel. The decision about how to finance these expenses will be made only when the final amount is clear. The Ministry of Finance regards the events as an internal conflict, in contrast to military operations.
Following Operation Protective Edge, the Ministry of Finance instituted a 2.5% across-the-board cut in ministerial budgets, but as of now, the cost of the fires is much less than that. Other possible sources for paying the costs are NIS 1.5 billion in unused budget reserves that the Ministry of Finance planned to transfer to a purchase tax fund at the end of the year. The transfer is scheduled only for next year, but has been brought forward in view of projections that the 2016 budget deficit will be less than the target.
Another expense resulting from the fires is a NIS 2,500 per capita grant. This grant, initiated by Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon, will be given to each family whose home was damaged and can no longer be lived in. In discussions presided over yesterday by Kahlon, it was agreed that the payments would be made by the local authorities, but it is still unclear whether the money will come from a property tax fund or directly from the state budget. This question also depends on whether the government will classify all the fire damage as damage from terrorism, or whether it will classify each fire separately according to the results of the police investigation.
Accounting departments at government ministries have been working on an emergency footing. Ministries are being given a free hand in using firefighting and rescue teams, welfare services, and other related services, including the procurement of necessary emergency equipment and inventory. Israel has also undertaken to pay for the use of the foreign planes sent to Israel to fight the fires and the stay in Israel of the foreign air crews and ground teams servicing them.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 27, 2016
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