“In my opinion, the chances are 60-40 that we won’t join,” said Litzman.
The main issue of dispute between UTJ, a hareidi-religious party that won six seats in last March’s election, and the coalition is the restoration of child allowances to their levels before they were cut substantially by the previous government.
Child allowances are monthly subsidies the government pays to families with children, in lieu of a reduction in income taxes. The more children a family has, the higher the monthly allowance.
Former finance minister MK Binyamin Netanyahu cut back the allowances as a cost saving measure that was strongly supported by former prime minister Ariel Sharon and his coalition partners.
Although Netanyahu’s cuts in government benefits were largely unpopular among the general public, and probably cost his Likud party seats in the past election, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he opposes restoring the cuts on principle, “and not because there’s no money.”
Litzman contends that Kadima’s promises to the Shas party to restore some of the cuts in child allowances will ultimately prove worthless. He claims that the Justice and Finance Ministries will successfully thwart Olmert’s promises to restore the cuts. The Shas party, with 12 Knesset seats, joined the coalition based on Kadima’s promise to spend NIS 2 billion to restore the cuts.
Another issue in contention between UTJ and the government is UTJ’s demand that it be given independence in running its private religious education system, despite its use of government money to subsidize the system. Litzman said that the government was willing to compromise on this issue, but has yet to work out all the details.
Litzman said the outcome of the negotiations with Kadima would be determined over the next few days. “We’ll keep negotiating until the end of the week, but not beyond that. They don’t think so, but I’m willing to sit in the opposition,” Litzman said.
In a mostly symbolic move that indicates UTJ’s displeasure with the negotiations, Litzman, who heads the Knesset Finance Committee, refused Tuesday to hold a meeting on the state budget. And as of now, the six UTJ MKs will oppose the budget when it comes up for a vote in the Knesset on Wednesday.
“I want to let them know that we are ready and willing to sit in the opposition,” said Litzman.
The main issue of dispute between UTJ, a hareidi-religious party that won six seats in last March’s election, and the coalition is the restoration of child allowances to their levels before they were cut substantially by the previous government.
Child allowances are monthly subsidies the government pays to families with children, in lieu of a reduction in income taxes. The more children a family has, the higher the monthly allowance.
Former finance minister MK Binyamin Netanyahu cut back the allowances as a cost saving measure that was strongly supported by former prime minister Ariel Sharon and his coalition partners.
Although Netanyahu’s cuts in government benefits were largely unpopular among the general public, and probably cost his Likud party seats in the past election, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he opposes restoring the cuts on principle, “and not because there’s no money.”
Litzman contends that Kadima’s promises to the Shas party to restore some of the cuts in child allowances will ultimately prove worthless. He claims that the Justice and Finance Ministries will successfully thwart Olmert’s promises to restore the cuts. The Shas party, with 12 Knesset seats, joined the coalition based on Kadima’s promise to spend NIS 2 billion to restore the cuts.
Another issue in contention between UTJ and the government is UTJ’s demand that it be given independence in running its private religious education system, despite its use of government money to subsidize the system. Litzman said that the government was willing to compromise on this issue, but has yet to work out all the details.
Litzman said the outcome of the negotiations with Kadima would be determined over the next few days. “We’ll keep negotiating until the end of the week, but not beyond that. They don’t think so, but I’m willing to sit in the opposition,” Litzman said.
In a mostly symbolic move that indicates UTJ’s displeasure with the negotiations, Litzman, who heads the Knesset Finance Committee, refused Tuesday to hold a meeting on the state budget. And as of now, the six UTJ MKs will oppose the budget when it comes up for a vote in the Knesset on Wednesday.
“I want to let them know that we are ready and willing to sit in the opposition,” said Litzman.