MK Ruth Calderon
MK Ruth CalderonYoni Kempinski

The Knesset passed two weeks ago a motion calling for a 10% cut in the wages of Knesset Members, but that decision was changed on Thursday and the cut will now stand at only a symbolic 1%.

The decision to “cut the cut” was made during a meeting of the Knesset’s Labor and Welfare Committee. During the meeting, the members of the committee criticized the fact that the proposed 10% cut in the wages of the President, the Prime Minister, Members of Knesset and government ministers was much higher than the cut in the wages of judges and other public servants.

In a subsequent vote on the matter it was decided that that the cut will be only 1% instead of the originally planned 10%. This means that the salaries of Knesset members will be cut by a mere 380 shekels, while the salaries of the President and the Prime Minister will be cut by just 500 shekels.

Following Thursday’s vote, MK Ruth Calderon (Yesh Atid) announced that she intends to donate the remaining 9% that would have been cut from her salary under the original plan to single-parent families.

"Friends, I understand that the coalition torpedoed the proposal of Finance Minister Yair Lapid to reduce our salaries by 10%. As such, I plan to donate the remaining 9% to single-parent families. At this time I feel that each public official should share the burden," Calderon wrote on her Facebook page.

MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) suggested a few months ago that Knesset members donate 10% of their salaries back to the government so that they can set an example for the rest of the citizens during a time of budget cuts, caused by a large deficit.

“We hope that the Prime Minister, Knesset chairman, and Finance Minister will support this proposal,” Lieberman said. “Along with the budget savings, we will also present a positive role model for the state,” he added.