Death and taxes

The front pages of Israel’s main Hebrew papers look alike this Friday, leading with the migrant crisis in Europe, and highlighting the government’s decision to lower the value added tax on consumer goods and to slash corporate tax.

“Price reductions are on the way – VAT is going down,” reads Yedioth Aharonot’s headline. The paper explains that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s plan to lower VAT come October from its current 18% to 17%, contrary to the position of Karnit Flug, the governor of the Central Bank of Israel. The prime minister also agreed to reduce corporate tax by 1.5%, from 26.5% to 25%, starting at the beginning of next year. The moves are expected to significantly lower housing and car prices, the paper adds.

Haaretz stresses the dispute between the Bank of Israel and the government concerning the tax cuts. The reduction in value added tax, Haaretz notes, was made possible due to a surplus in the country’s reserves, which are expected to reach NIS 10,000,000,000 by the end of year. According to the paper’s calculations, the moves may result in a net yearly loss of NIS 6,000,000,000 for the state.

Israel Hayom, aside from discussing the tax changes, leads with an image of Syrian migrants being forcefully evacuated from train tracks in Hungary, a day after the world was horrified by the image of a toddler’s lifeless body washed ashore on a Turkish beach, when the migrant boat carrying him and his family sank. “Europe is examining: A fence to block migrants, ‘just like in Israel’,” the daily exclaims — or possibly boasts. The paper goes on to explain that the Hungarian and Bulgarian governments have looked into the possibility of constructing a fence akin to the one along the Israeli-Egyptian border.

Boaz Bismuth, one of the paper’s leading analysts, directs criticism at the governments of the Arab Gulf states for failing to properly assist refugees from Syria and Afghanistan. “Where is the Arab solidarity?” Bismuth asks. “Where are the billions of [dollars] of Saudi Arabia? of Qatar? of the Emirates?” he continues. Bismuth noticeably does not question whether the Israeli government could in fact do more to help resolve the refugee and migrant disaster occurring mere kilometers from the country’s borders. It’s easier to point accusatory fingers at the Jewish state’s neighbors than come up with your own solutions to a problem of this magnitude.

The same image of Syrian migrants appears on Yedioth’s front page, but the paper focuses on the terrible experiences of those fleeing war zones rather than the deliberations of officials attempting to keep the displaced people out of Europe. Yedioth writer Shimon Schiffer, reporting from Budapest, offers a detailed account of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of migrants and refugees gathered in the city’s central train station. The accounts given in Yedioth are both powerful and frightening, and Schiffer even goes as far as hinting that the images stir up memories of the Holocaust.

Back in Haaretz, the paper reports that the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is demanding that the government significantly increase fines for the hunting of Israeli Gazelles, which are on the brink of extinction. According to the Authority, the population of gazelles in the country has dropped by 70% in the past 15 years, in a large part due to illegal hunting.

Haaretz also reports that China is set to release 300,000 soldiers from its army as part of efforts to cut back on its military expenditure. Currently, 2.3 million troops serve in the Chinese army, according to Haaretz. The Chinese government has maintained that the cuts to its military are aimed at promoting peace in the region. We can only hope those efforts come into fruition.