Avigdor Liberman
Avigdor LibermanHadas Parush/Flash90

"Israel has no need to raise taxes," Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman said at the 10th annual Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on Tuesday.

Liberman expressed confidence that Israel's budget will be passed by Knesset before the November 14 deadline. "There are many challenges, but I have no doubt the budget will pass," he said. "This is the most social and revolutionary budget in memory. There has not been a budget with 42 significant reforms and structural changes. And this is from a government that has existed for only four months.

“Certain taxes will be raised to serve different economic goals. Today, the real estate market is on fire, and we need to cool it off," he said. “Raising purchase taxes would be like pouring cold water on the market.”

The reform includes a plan to double taxes on plasticware to reduce the usage of disposable utensils here. "Plastic use here is four times more than in the European Union," Liberman said. "This would be a tool for public policy, not for the purpose of raising taxes."

The most important thing is that the government passes the budget and can function properly, Liberman said. "Coalition politics is not a friendly social club. The job of the opposition is to criticize."

He continues: "There are strong disagreements between the parties, but there are no conflicts. Each minister has to focus on their job, and not on others. We can't be like the previous government, where the prime minister tried to tell everyone what to do."

Liberman stresses that the economy is recovering quickly. He attributes this improvement to tax collections, the major parameters of credit card activity, the financial performance of publicly traded Israeli companies. Israel's balance of payments, and Israeli companies have raised more than $120 billion on US markets, he noted.

"The most important thing is not to close the economy again (because of corona)," Liberman said. "Last year, we said this was a bad idea, and this has now been proven."