Minister of Defense Ehud Barak says that the defense establishment will contribute to the needs emerging from the social protest, but warns that Israel faces an unprecedented confluence of geopolitical and the economic conditions.
"We're at a critical crossroads. Both the geopolitical and the economic situation, domestically and globally, are unique, the likes of which we've never seen," Minister of Defense Ehud Barak told the Knesset Finance Committee today. The committee is holding a special meeting to discuss the government's intention to cut NIS 2.5 billion from the defense budget to help finance social needs.
"On one hand, Arab Spring, the upheaval in Arab countries, along with the changes that make it harder to predict the end of nations and regimes, have created new security challenges: Hamas in Gaza, Hizbullah in Lebanon, and Iran in the background," Barak continued.
"There are other threats as well. One of the prominent things in the Middle East is the conclusion that situations could be created that will require Israel to deal with critical matters without relying on other parties. Israel is a very strong country; it is the strongest in the region, and it will probably continue to be so in the foreseeable future if we continue to act sagaciously and responsibly."
Barak continued, "But there are difficult challenges and complicated uncertainties. These things must be mentioned with regard to the defense establishment's resources. We're in a transition in the multiyear Tefen Plan, and we want to begin the next Halamish Plan, and I will explain the multiyear dimension of the defense budget and the difference from the budgets of all the other ministries.
"At the same time, we experienced the social protest, one of the most important and exciting things that has happened in the country. Not just demands for a New Deal contract between society and the state. I would not disregard simple, direct and purposeful public and political dialogue. The social protest requires us as leaders to respond, and I think that we must prepare for this. This is a vital challenge, and it is no less important whose conclusion is that a critical mass of demands receives a real response that is felt and sensed on the ground. This protest, too, requires resources.
"The defense budget includes our own pensioners who receive very low pensions after many years of service. There are also widows and orphans and the handicapped. They too must be taken care of. This social protest requires resources. It is important to increase the share of source and divert some of the uses. The Trajtenberg Report has come down on us and greatly resembles the handling of the annual budget. Now it's called the Trajtenberg Report; then it was called the 2012 budget.
"Regrettably, all these things are happening at the same time as an unprecedented economic crisis that is changing the global economic arrangements since the end of the Second World War; a crisis not seen since the 1930s. This combination of Arab Spring, Israel's security needs for which we will all have to meet and for which we are all responsible, alongside the social protest and the global recession have already reached our shores. The common denominator is resources; the question is where will they come from."
Barak concluded, "It is true that in the perspective of the coming decade we cannot consumer more than we produce. But to produce and profit, we must maintain our social and economic fabric. I understand that the rating agencies have a lot to say. These rating agencies, which some people regard as holy writ, are the same rating agencies that until the day before the sub-prime crash in the US, which had been building for years, had AAA ratings.
"I suggest learning something about proportionality and the understanding of reality. We must step back for a moment and think clearly and cleanly about what is happening here and what has to be done. In the defense establishment, we are thinking a lot about the protest. We are definitely ready to contribute our share from the defense budget while taking risks to share in a real way in the handling of the challenges that emerged from the protest, to share real resources. If I could make a deal with [Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe] Gafni to target the money that I would give, I would give money for education from birth. That's a very important investment."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 1, 2011
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