The Ministerial Committee for the Financial Arrangements Law has decided to send the proposed "housewife tax" back to the government for reappraisal – effectively scuttling the idea. The Finance Ministry had proposed that housewives be made to pay health tax.

The idea was opposed vehemently by Minister for Religions Yitzchak Cohen (Shas). "It is unthinkable that the weakest group in the workforce be hurt under the guise of a healthy, socially conscious financial policy," he said.

The Finance Ministry will now have to find new ways to enlarge the state's income.