Shas supported the government's austerity measures in Monday's Knesset vote, after its ministers initially opposed them in the cabinet, after Minister of Housing and Construction Ariel Atias and the Ministry of Finance reached a deal to allocate more than NIS 1 billion for public housing and expediting projects for young couples.
Atias said, "The across-the-board budget cuts would have hit public housing and rental assistance that the Ministry of Housing provides for the poor, which is why we opposed them in the cabinet. Our NIS 1 billion achievement is an act of mercy and encourages growth. It includes a NIS 260 million investment for upgrading the inventory of public housing and the purchase of hundreds of new apartments, and an investment of NIS 750 million to expedite housing starts for young couples and to encourage growth and jobs."
The public housing inventory has shrunk over the years as apartments were sold to their tenants and no new apartments were built, resulting in a shortage and a waiting list of 2,400 families for public housing. While waiting for an apartment, these families receive rental assistance, which was recently doubled to a cap of NIS 3,000, as part of Atias's efforts to improve eligibility terms for public housing.
The new measures follow previous agreements between the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Housing that the cut to the latter's budget would not affect any of its social programs, including rental assistance, neighborhood redevelopment projects, and public housing.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 8, 2012
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