Ministerial committee approves budget cuts
Proposed financial plan will now be debated by legislators
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAaron Kalman is a former writer and breaking news editor for the Times of Israel
The ministerial legislation committee on Sunday passed a bill to allow the Treasury’s planned budget cuts to move forward in the Knesset.
The bill was set to go before the Knesset plenum on Monday.
The plan calls for the reduction of the national deficit by some NIS 15 billion through a combination of tax hikes and budget cuts.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week defended the package, which will see VAT taxes and some income taxes rise while cutting the budgets of nearly every government ministry, saying he needed to bolster the state’s coffers in light of world economic problems.
The package caused tension between the Treasury and Defense Ministry, with a NIS 100 million budget cut narrowly avoided.
Shas leader Eli Yishai cut a deal with the Treasury on Wednesday, agreeing to support the across-the-board budget cuts in exchange for the Treasury waiving the cuts to the Shas-held ministries of Interior and Housing.
The Times of Israel Community.