Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz is defending the drought fine imposed on citizens who exceed the water usage quota set by the government. According to a report on IDF Army Radio, Steinitz told the Knesset Finance Committee on Wednesday that the so-called "drought tax" is "finally leading to lower water usage rates. Finally something real is being done about the water problems in this economy."
The finance minister expressed relief that unemployment in Israel, which currently stands at eight percent, has not reached the figures seen in North America and Europe, where the rates have exceeded 10 percent. However, he said, "Unemployment in Israel is [still] high, and this is a situation which we cannot accept for a long time."