The government will discuss the Ministry of Finance's proposal for a NIS 1.15 billion across-the-board cut in public spending today. The proposal is part of the Ministry of Finance's emergency plan to deal with Israel's outsize fiscal deficit. In advance of the meeting, sources in the government expressed concern that internal conflicts within the Ministry of Finance would cause difficulties in mustering the required majority of ministers in support of the proposed cut. Several ministers have already said that they will oppose cuts to the budgets of their ministries.
"The people in the Budgets Division who are supposed to reach understandings with the ministers before the meeting have been embroiled in internal battles in the Ministry of Finance in the past few days, and because of that have not managed to finalize matters with all the ministers," the government sources said. The atmosphere is still stormy at the ministry, after five deputy budget commissioners complained to ministry director-general Shai Babad that he was damaging their day-to-day work. Babad referred the complaints, which he described as "grave", to the Civil Service Commissioner and to the Attorney General for examination. He himself complained that the Budgets Division had carried out a media lynch on him.
The budget cut, amounting to 1.75% of the ministerial budgets, is intended to finance two programs that at present have no funding source: an afternoon care program for children; and a defense project meant to prevent infiltration into Israel from the Gaza Strip. NIS 350 million of the amount saved will finance the afternoon care program for the period September-December this year, and the remainder will be devoted to the defense project.
Yesterday, Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan said that he would vote against the cut, while Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Welfare Haim Katz expressed reservations about it. There is also opposition among civil servants. Yesterday, employees at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a joint campaign with employees of the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of Defense in an attempt to prevent a further cut in budgets for overseas envoys.
This is the fifteenth budget cut in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current administration. The across-the-board cuts amount in total to some NIS 40 billion, mostly carried out in order to finance other government activity.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 24, 2019
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