The government\'s controversial economic cutback program passed in the Cabinet last night, after several of the more austere measures were removed. Tax benefits for residents of the Negev, the north, and Yesha were halved, and child-allowances will be cut for those who have not served in the army. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer says he is proud that the government has shifted funding from Yesha to the Negev, as tax benefits for the Negev began only recently. The dollar continues to rise, and is being traded this morning at 4.91 shekels.
The budget-battle now moves to the Knesset, which must also approve the new program. The first Parliamentary front will be in the Knesset Finance Committee - headed by United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Litzman. His party is adamantly against the child-allowance cut, and Litzman is therefore not likely to place the matter on the agenda in the near future. Shas, too, will vote against the program because of this clause; Shas leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef so instructed his MKs, \"even at the expense of toppling the government.\"
The budget-battle now moves to the Knesset, which must also approve the new program. The first Parliamentary front will be in the Knesset Finance Committee - headed by United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Litzman. His party is adamantly against the child-allowance cut, and Litzman is therefore not likely to place the matter on the agenda in the near future. Shas, too, will vote against the program because of this clause; Shas leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef so instructed his MKs, \"even at the expense of toppling the government.\"