"I know that you could have chosen an easier livelihood. You found the economy with a serious deficit. You didn’t run away from the crisis, but chose to tackle it," President Shimon Peres told Minister of Finance Yair Lapid, who handed him the budget proposal today. "I experienced an economic crisis as prime minister, when I found 450% inflation. I was criticized and attacked, but the people joined hands with the government, the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel), and the manufacturers for a string of very severe cuts. To my surprise, within just nine months, the economy stabilized with 16% inflation and the people realized the pain and hardship were necessary."
Peres added, "Israel's budget deficit is big, and the decision is essential and very painful. I am aware of the pain of the mothers, of the pain of the poor, and of the pain of the children, but as a nation and as a country, we have no alternative to do things that do not hurt. The nation must get through this period together, while maintaining a safety net for the poor and the weak, as was presented to me in your economic plan. I believe in this nation, and I know that when there is a frontline, the entire nation is called up. We have no choice but to hurt and be called up, the nation must get through this period together, and I have no doubt that the results will arrive. We must realize that we are curing a curable disease."
Lapid told Peres, "As a man who is familiar with your biography, I know that whenever you had the choice of choosing the right thing over the popular thing, you chose the right thing. We are now doing the right thing, which will lead to the emergence from the deficit, while deploying a safety net for the poorest in society."
Lapid added, "I cannot say that the blow is not painful. I understand the people's frustration, and there is a lot of justice in their anger, but the goal is to pull us out as fast as possible from the economic crisis, and to bring the economy to a place worthy of it. We are doing the right thing; there is a price to pay, but we will also have results."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 9, 2013
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