“I will be finance minister, together with another post, that of prime minister,” MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) told “Globes” today in a special interview. “There is no way to carry out reform, unless the finance minister leads it with the full backing of the prime minister.”
He added, “I had that backing. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave me full support even under difficult circumstances, and I appreciated it, and continue to appreciate it.
“The finance minister leads the reforms, and the finance minister pays the price. I paid the political price. But it was worth it. Israel went through the Lebanon war with a strong shekel, possibly with a too-strong shekel, with a surplus in the till, which makes it possible to deal with both poverty and security.”
Commenting on Minister of Finance Abraham Hirchson’s dispute with Accountant General Dr. Yaron Zalika, Netanyahu said, “Zalika is straight as a ruler. His wish to ensure transparent tenders in this country is a fantastic economic and social revolution, and the credit is his alone. He completely overhauled the government’s actions and finances, and that’s just one thing.”
In response to a question how he would act as minister of finance if Zalika had informed the state comptroller about irregularities in his decisions, Netanyahu said, “Zalika would not have reported irregularities when I was finance minister because he had no irregularities to report.”
Last night, Netanyahu appeared before the annual conference of the Manufacturers Association of Israel Metal and Electrical Industries Association, where he vehemently attacked Zalika’s opponents. “When I was minister of finance, we held transparent tenders, and by doing so, we wiped out the ‘delivery of envelopes’. We saved the economy NIS 5 billion. But today, they want to get rid of the people who did this.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 7, 2006
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