Bringing down the housing prices

Housing, both public and private, made the front pages of all the Israeli newspapers on Monday with the majority of coverage focusing on the government approval of the Trajtenberg recommendations.

Haaretz‘s lead story focuses on yesterday’s government decision to unanimously approve the Trajtenberg committee’s housing recommendations. The committee, which was established in the wake of last summer’s social protests, recommended a 10 percent fine for builders who delay construction, a limit on the number of winning bids from the Israel Land Authority in order to prevent a concentration of power within the industry, and raising the maximum amount for public housing subsidies from NIS 1,750 to NIS 3,000. But as the Haaretz article points out, not everyone is happy. “The proposal would harm contractors’ ability to build and will lead to additional and unnecessary passing on of real estate prices to citizens,” the Israeli Association of Builders and Contractors warned.

Israel Hayom’s headline on the subject is direct, “The goal: lower the cost of living.” Its coverage included an infographic detailing the exact parameters of the approved measures, including approval for 187,000 new apartments to be built over the next five years of which 40,000 will be defined as “affordable housing,” and the speeding up the evacuation of large IDF bases in the center of the country.

Both Maariv and Yedioth Ahronoth give the story a front-page headline but then bury it in their respective business sections, Maariv with the headline, “Giant step for the coalition, a small step for housing.” The article focused on the Yisrael Beiteinu party’s initial opposition to the bill because the government had lowered the original numbers that the committee recommended, but its eventual acquiescence once money was being allocated to the elderly and immigrants.

Let’s make a deal

Defense Minister Ehud Barak also featured prominently in all the papers for his own apartment news. Yedioth Ahronoth states simply, “Barak found a buyer.” After four years of searching, Barak found someone to buy his luxury apartment in northern Tel Aviv for 26.5 million shekels, down from the original asking price of 40 million.

Maariv also covered the high-value real estate deal and included an opinion piece from Shai Golden. In the piece, Golden makes the point that for Barak, a key member of the government, conducting such a prominent deal while the average citizen is struggling with economic woes is inappropriate at best.

While only Haaretz gave the story front-page coverage, all the papers covered the story of a fire at a retirement home in Bnei Brak. The fire severely damaged the retirement home and injured seventeen people, four of them seriously. Investigators have arrested two suspects for negligence, claiming that they forged fire permits and the building was actually not up to code.

Maariv’s main headline focused on the Palestinians’ attempts to create a UN committee investigating settlement activity in the West Bank. “Israeli pressure to prevent a settlement committee,” reads the top headline in Maariv. The UN committee would be similar to the Goldstone Committee, which investigated Operation Cast Lead, and would report on Israeli settlement activity. Jerusalem has stated that if the committee is established, it will not cooperate with it.

Yedioth Ahronoth has a full-page story on Page 6 about former President Moshe Katsav, who is requesting a weekend pass from prison so he can attend his son’s wedding. The former president began serving his term three months ago and therefore does not meet the requirements to earn a furlough. It is nevertheless expected that warden will grant his request.

Haaretz has an article about how the Justice Ministry is changing its policies regarding Israeli ID numbers in wake of the Saudi hacker who attacked Israeli websites this past winter. The new laws force companies to inform customers what exactly their ID number will be used for and whether a person is legally required to provide an ID for certain transactions.

Maariv reports that due to the sanctions against Iran, the price of oil is rising worldwide, including in Israel. The article cites the recent success of the sanctions, especially SWIFT’s decision not to conduct business with Iran, as a reason for the higher oil prices. The price of gas in Israel is expected to rise by 10 agorot to a record 8.05 shekels per liter.

Round and round

Despite the relative calm that has returnedsince the last round of intense rocket fire, Amos Gilboa writes in Maariv that the government has failed the residents of the south. “Operation Cast Lead achieved no strategic victory… just a tactical achievement of hundreds of Hamas members killed.” Gilboa goes on to argue that precisely because Bibi and Barak have accepted the normalcy of “rounds” of fighting and missiles from Gaza and therefore have failed the southern residents. He points northward to the Galilee where residents don’t have to constantly worry about missiles. While he blames the government for part of the problems in Gaza, he also looks toward the Palestinian leadership as well. He ends his piece questioning Abu Mazen and asking, if he does nothing to end the threat from Gaza, what hope is there for a lasting peace?

Haaretz commentator Akiva Eldar reflects on Israeli victimhood and its effect on foreign policy. Elder discusses how the Holocaust and the perception of Jewish victimhood has allowed Israeli leaders to frighten Israelis and the rest of the world. “Remove the Holocaust and victimhood from the conversation and Netanyahu’s claim that ‘a country has a right to defend itself’ becomes a double edged sword.” While he acknowledges the Palestinians’ dependence on the Nakba — the catastrophe of 1948 —  Elder concludes his piece by stating in this battle for victimhood, everyone loses.