The Cabinet voted Wednesday to approve a budget for the next two years, but some of those who voted in favor are not yet satisfied with the draft that was approved. On Thursday, Welfare Minister Yitzchak Herzog of Labor and members of the hareidi-religious United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party said they would fight to remove a tax on fruits and vegetables from the final version of the bill.
The Knesset's other hareidi-religious party, Shas, was the only coalition faction to vote against the draft budget. Shas ministers said their opposition stemmed in part from the plan to tax fresh produce.
Opposition to the produce tax crosses party lines, including Labor, Shas and others, Herzog said Thursday. “I think that clause will be removed from the budget in the end,” he said in a meeting with representatives of Israel's kibbutzim (cooperative communities).
Kibbutz agriculturalists expressed concern that the produce tax would seriously harm their industry.
MK Menachem Eliezer Moses of UTJ took a direct approach, saying his party would torpedo the initiative, using its control of the Knesset's Finance Committee as leverage. The Finance Committee is led by UTJ representative Moshe Gafni.
Shas and UTJ have expressed concern that the tax would hurt Israel's poor, who spend proportionally more on food than do the rich. The tax is expected to cost the average family roughly $250 a year.
Shas went so far as to threaten a coalition crisis over the proposal. If the government refuses to remove the produce tax, Shas might leave for the opposition, warned party head Eli Yishai.