Dozens of farmers block entrance to Kahlon's home

Demonstrators from union of private growers slam finance minister in latest agricultural protest against budget cuts

Dozens of farmers in tractors and pickup trucks blocked the entrance to the home of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon in Haifa Sunday morning, protesting a series of government cuts in the recently passed budget and what they called Kahlon’s “lip service” to the industry.

Farmers from around Israel attended the demonstration, organized by the Agriculturalists and Farmers Union, and many held up signs protesting the gaps between what producers earn from supermarket chains and what consumers pay, and calling for Kahlon to help save what they called a “collapsing” industry.

Dovi Amitai, president of the Agriculturalists and Farmers Union, said that Kahlon had failed to live up to his commitments.

“Kahlon made many promises, but the budget passed and his promises turned out to be lip service,” he was quoted by the news site Maariv as saying. “We came here to remind him about canceling the employers’ tax and updating the allowed deductible amount, which he already mentioned in his party’s official 180-day plan of action and proved to all of us that he is a big talker like all of the politicians.”

The demonstration was the latest in a series of protests by farmers in recent months against the high profit margins of retail chains on agricultural produce, a number of cutbacks on government support and tax breaks for farmers, and an expected rise in water prices.

In crafting the 2015-2016 government budget, the Finance and Agriculture ministries negotiated with a competing union, the Israel Farmers’ Federation, led by Meir Tzur.

According to the business daily The Marker, Tzur’s Israel Farmers’ Federation represents most of the agricultural sector, including kibbutzim, while Amitai’s Agriculturalists and Farmers Union is an independent organization that represents 3 percent of farmers, including mostly those who are private and unaffiliated with a kibbutz or moshav.

The Agriculturalists and Farmers Union called those who negotiated with the government “elements claiming to be opinion leaders in the agricultural sector” who “prevent us from speaking out.”

“[We] won’t stop until Kahlon wakes up and understands that Israeli agriculture is collapsing under his watch,” Amitai said.