The men who stare at budgets

It’s been four months since bickering about the budget was front page news, but Yair Lapid’s 2015 budget has raised tensions between the finance minister and PM Netanyahu. Not ones to be left out of a good argument, the papers do their best to convince their readers who’s right and who’s not.

Israel Hayom frames it pretty simply on the front page — “Netanyahu: More for security; Lapid: Raise the deficit.” Inside the paper quotes Netanyahu even more, headlining a piece “The billions we give to security will save the economy.” The paper does a quick run-through of the issues, mainly that Lapid doesn’t want to raise taxes and instead wants to raise the deficit to 3.45% of the GDP (something, the paper points out, Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug is opposed to).

Columnist Dan Margalit takes up the debate and weighs in on giving more money to the IDF and security services. He writes that the IDF isn’t really asking for more, just the return of what was cut in last year’s budget. “With the threats of cyber attacks, missiles and the Islamic State (a seemingly inexpensive war, but one that could ignite the Middle East), and the Hezbollah in the north, we must honor the request of the Defense Ministry and the military,” he writes.

On the other side of the spectrum, Haaretz’s front-page headline gives its version of the problem, “Netanyahu: Need to add billions to the defense budget.” The paper does address the row between Netanyahu and Lapid, writing that despite the difference of opinion, Lapid doesn’t want new elections. “Although I see no reason to break up the government, I do have red lines,” Lapid said about the budget.

Yedioth Ahronoth plays up the crisis angle of the budget crisis by paraphrasing Lapid for its front-page headline, “Lapid: No reason for elections.” But, the paper notes, “the gaps between both sides are great.”

Sima Kadmon writes that Lapid can’t back down. “Lapid knows he can’t waver on the issue of taxes or the law for zero sales tax on apartments. He knows what everyone in Israel knows: to give up on those two issues would be political suicide,” she writes. She goes on to say that despite all this, Netanyahu has no political interests in seeing Lapid leave the government. “But maybe Lapid has reasons to leave.”

Security threats

Hezbollah makes it back into all the papers after a senior IDF officer commented on the group’s changing strategy. Haaretz writes that according to the officer, in the next war with Israel, Hezbollah would attempt to infiltrate Israel and take control of some Israeli territory. The officer discounted the tunnel threat from Lebanon, saying the terrain was not conducive to tunnels, unlike in the south by Gaza.

Yedioth also reports on the Hezbollah threat and points out that its fighters are getting valuable experience fighting in Syria for the past three years. Hezbollah is making preparations along the border for the next conflict, but despite all that, the paper says that Hezbollah doesn’t have any interest in getting in a fight with Israel right now.

Israel Hayom has a short little article that perfectly ties together the budget debate and the security concerns. The paper reports that Israeli Air Force Chief Amir Eshel said that some of the air force’s older aircraft must be replaced as soon as possible. Speaking at a school on Sunday, Eshel said, “No one here drives a car as old as some of our planes. Yesterday they were in Gaza and tomorrow they may be sent to Tehran.”

Divisions exposed

It has been around for a few years, but the light rail system in Jerusalem has now become the city’s fault line — at least according to Haaretz. The paper reports that the since demonstrations in East Jerusalem began about three months ago, ridership has fallen on the system by 70%. The train, which goes through both East and West Jerusalem was hoped to be a symbol of unity, but not anymore. The paper reports over the past two weeks there have been increased attempts to break the windows of the trains, resulting in half a million shekels worth of damage (about $138,000).

While Jerusalem is showing its divisions, Yedioth reports that Berlin is showing it is of one voice. “Jews, you are at home,” the article quotes German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She was speaking at a rally against anti-Semitism, where she also stated, “I will not allow any attacks on Jews.” The rally came in response to a number of anti-Semitic acts during Operation Protective Edge.

Israel Hayom reports on new directives by the Bank of Israel that will make it harder to become a homeowner. The new rules state that mortgages will have more capital invested to fend off a possible housing crisis. The paper states that the new rules would harm the young couples who want to purchase a home but don’t have rich parents to help them. In addition, banks will have to set aside millions of shekels as a security blanket to protect themselves from bad loans.