Foie Gras

Israeli citizens are being driven into the poorhouse, Opposition chairman MK Yitzhak Herzog (Labor) stated on the Knesset plenum on Monday, and recent budgetary decisions are to blame. "I was young and I am old, and I do see the righteous forsaken and his children seeking bread," Herzog began, paraphrasing Psalms. "There are those who care to turn Israel into citizens who are asking for bread, beggars asking for shoes." "If, God forbid, the current state budget receives your support, Knesset members - each and every one of you will have shame in your pockets along with your ID cards," he added. "And it will be sealed by one person, Binyamin Netanyahu." "This budget is yours, prime minister," continued Herzog. "This is a political ploy, preferring to appoint a political novice for finance minister [Yair Lapid - ed.] who lacks professional experience, and using [that appointment] as a human shield." Herzog even intimated that Netanyahu's budgetary decisions would ultimately see his ouster from the position of Prime Minister. "This budget and the decisions you made come at the expense of our children's future, the housing needs of our citizens, our living costs and they hurt the middle class," Herzog threatened. "The public is not stupid, and is not willing to continue to pay. The prime minister will be paying the price – soon, he will be paying with his seat." "Six years in a row you are clinging to your job, and what did you bring? What news do you have? Nothing!" he continued. "Israel should return to having a prosperous economy, not to the economy ruining our lives." "On a socio-economic level, the Netanyahu government is dragging us towards an abyss," he thundered. "Look at how communities in the South collapsed, how we saw the wave of layoffs in the periphery, how industry is collapsing - then we open up one more plant, just make another business deal." "What do we have in the future: a layoff cycle affecting thousands, bringing us 0% growth this year in the end?" he added. "The wage gaps are widening, the ability of young couples to get an apartment no longer exists, and the farce around Lapid's 0% VAT is added to the confusion. Our pension is a sad joke, the health and education and welfare systems continue to absorb painful cuts and many more civilians are being injured." After a 10-hour marathon, the 2015 budget stands at 428 billion shekels total, including debt repayment, earlier this month. However, disagreements between Netanyahu and Lapid have cast a shadow on the process over the past several weeks, highlighting, for many, Lapid's inexperience as an MK and essential problems with cost-of-living in Israel, especially regarding food and housing prices. In September, Netanyahu called for an increase of "many billions" of shekels in defense spending following Operation Protective Edge, while Lapid has downplayed the expense of the operation and pushed for a modest defense budget. The tensions led Netanyahu at one point to suspend discussions over Lapid's controversial 0% VAT Bill that is opposed by hareidi and Arab parties , in a not-so-subtle move to pressure Lapid into greater flexibility. Eventually, Lapid and Netanyahu reached a compromise on the budget, which stipulated that the defense system will receive another 6 billion shekels as an addition to the 2015 budget (the defense budget in 2015 will be 57 billion shekels) and another 7-8 billion shekels to cover the expenses of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza this past summer. In addition, it was agreed that the deficit for the 2015 budget proposal as presented to the government will be 3.4% and will not include tax increases.

Foie Gras

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