Minister said to slam new stipend for self-employed as ‘hangman’s noose’

Labor and Welfare Minister Itzik Shmuli of the Labor party reportedly quarrels with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting approving expedited stipends for self employed Israelis.

“It’s no wonder at the moment that there is lack of trust by the self-employed,” Shmuli says during the meeting, according to Channel 12, adding that that is “because of what we have promised thus far, because the compensation in this outline isn’t high enough and therefore the self-employed are right.”

“It is no wonder that the feeling is that we threw a hangman’s noose in their direction, rather than a lifeline,” he says.

Netanyahu reportedly retorts: “Listen, young minister, don’t speak to me in slogans. I’m not prepared for talks about hangman’s nooses because that’s what will come out [in the media] eventually. There are broad responsibilities here; you are a minister in the government; you can’t speak in sweeping terms like that.”