Demands to increase compensation to residents affected by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposed disengagement threaten to derail the plan that would close down 21 Jewish communities in Gush Katif and four more in northern Samaria.
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today insisted he would pass next year’s budget as planned, but politicians close to the prime minister already are calling for increasing reparations to Jewish citizens who are transferred out of their homes that would swell the budget deficit and endanger Israel’s financial stability. “We cannot run riot with the budget,” Netanyahu warned Monday. He already has approved compensations that have forced him to raise the budget deficit from 3 percent to 3.4 percent.
World economic leaders repeatedly have stated that increasing the budget deficit beyond three per cent could lower Israel’s bond rating, increase debt costs and thwart economic recovery. Netanyahu cautioned Knesset members that increasing compensation to victims of the disengagement plan would force budget cuts elsewhere. Education and social services already have suffered severe cutbacks, and further economic sanctions could set off a new round of costly general strikes.
Sharon’s plan to pull out from Gush Katif in Israel’s southern coastal region and leave the area for Arab sovereignty would cost approximately one billion dollars including military outlays. Members of Sharon’s own Likud party have stated that the payments that Netanyahu has approved “are not enough to compensate the trauma of families having to rebuild their lives from scratch.”
Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today insisted he would pass next year’s budget as planned, but politicians close to the prime minister already are calling for increasing reparations to Jewish citizens who are transferred out of their homes that would swell the budget deficit and endanger Israel’s financial stability. “We cannot run riot with the budget,” Netanyahu warned Monday. He already has approved compensations that have forced him to raise the budget deficit from 3 percent to 3.4 percent.
World economic leaders repeatedly have stated that increasing the budget deficit beyond three per cent could lower Israel’s bond rating, increase debt costs and thwart economic recovery. Netanyahu cautioned Knesset members that increasing compensation to victims of the disengagement plan would force budget cuts elsewhere. Education and social services already have suffered severe cutbacks, and further economic sanctions could set off a new round of costly general strikes.
Sharon’s plan to pull out from Gush Katif in Israel’s southern coastal region and leave the area for Arab sovereignty would cost approximately one billion dollars including military outlays. Members of Sharon’s own Likud party have stated that the payments that Netanyahu has approved “are not enough to compensate the trauma of families having to rebuild their lives from scratch.”