News Brief

The Knesset Finance Committee is set to approve on Sunday the financial emergency package presented by the Treasury last week. The package, designed to ward off the consequences to Israelis of the worldwide recession, credit crunch, and poor performance of the financial markets, will increase investment in infrastructure, provide incentives to small businesses, and provide government guarantees for financial service providers.

The heads of the three major parties informed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over the weekend that they would support the package. In addition, negotiations will continue with the Treasury to provide a safety net for pension plans, which have been badly hurt by the recent fall in the stock market.