Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Thursday evening promising to review his proposed budget cuts and remove those cuts that could harm weak sectors of society. Netanyahu said he was previously unaware of specific details of the budget that could deal a financial blow to the poor.
Leading figures in the government, national institutions and special interests groups expressed outrage on Thursday afternoon over planned budget cuts announced in the morning. Among those to express their displeasure were Welfare Minister Yitzchak Herzog, National Insurance Institute (NII) Director-General Esther Dominissini, Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, and Histadrut National Labor Union head Ofer Eini.
The criticism was accompanied by threats to break up the Likud-led majority Knesset coalition. “The Prime Minister must decide whether he chooses a political crisis, or a solution allowing for the expansion of the budget,” Herzog said.
Sources close to Eini told the Hebrew-language daily Yediot Aharonot that the head of Israel's most powerful union had threatened to break up the coalition as well. Eini, an associate of Labor head Ehud Barak, reportedly said Thursday, “If the government doesn't come to its senses and repeal cuts that will hurt the weak, I'll make sure that Barak leaves the coalition and takes down the government.”
Histadrut officials have expressed suspicion that certain parts of the budget cuts -- which target hospital patients, single mothers, and new immigrants -- may have been designed to pressure the labor union into dropping its demands regarding public sector salaries in order to free up funds for social welfare.
Dominissini called on the government to “strengthen social security” instead of cutting services. Cuts will hurt the poor, she said, and leave citizens feeling insecure. She announced that she plans to work with Herzog to oppose the cuts.
Litzman expressed confidence that the budget cuts, which he termed “disgusting,” would not pass a Knesset vote.
Among the changes planned for the health sector are cutting nursing positions in the nation's infant health clinics, reducing the anti-flu medication purchased in case of a swine flu outbreak, and forcing hospital patients to make a copayment of 50 shekels per day. Hospitalization is currently covered by the standard national health coverage.
The 50 shekel a day payment could quickly add up to thousands of shekels of debt for the chronically ill, opponents of the measure said Thursday. Netanyahu mentioned the hospitalization copayment in his Thursday night speech as a measure that will undergo immediate review.
Protests were also heard from the Education Ministry, teachers' unions, the Women's Lobby, and the Council for the Welfare of the Child.