Professor Manuel Trajtenberg
Professor Manuel TrajtenbergIsrael news photo: Flash 90

The Trajtenberg Committee for socio-economic change will officially release on Monday its recommendations and its final report, though most of the recommendations have already been reported on by the media in recent days and have been made known to the public.

According to a report on Israel’s Channel 10 News, among the recommendations in the report will be a considerable reduction of the cost of raising infants up to the ages of three. This reduction will be made possible by publishing a recommended price list for day care centers and by providing tax credits to fathers.

IDF Army Radio added that the committee will suggest that the compulsory education law be extended and begin at the age of three.

The committee will also publish recommendations for the Israeli real estate market, one of which will be doubling of property taxes on “phantom apartments” in the big cities. It will also recommend that an additional quarter of a million housing units be built within five years and that contractors who build homes at discount prices be rewarded.

On Sunday, Israeli media reported of another new proposal which the committee is expected to recommend. The proposal, Channel 10 reported, is an innovative attempt to reduce the gap in wages in the Israeli economy by imposing on executives’ salaries the maximum tax rate currently allowed by law: 45% instead of 25% today.

Also on Sunday, Professor Manuel Trajtenberg who chairs the committee made public a portion of the introductory chapter of the report, which sets out his views on various issues. In additions guidelines were published for social-economic policy which Trajtenberg believes the government should adopt. These include a call to the government “to set social goals, strive for a fair distribution of the fruits of growth, ensure fair play in the market and adopt channels of dialogue with the public.”

The committee will publish its report and recommendations in a news conference to be held at 5:00 p.m. Israel time.

The committee was established in August after a wave of social protests which swept Israel’s streets, most notably the tent protest which saw young Israelis living in tents on city streets in protest of the high cost of housing in Israel.

Separate protests involved mothers of young children who protested against the high costs of raising children and demanded, among other things, government subsidies for day care.