Livnat joins with other Likud ministers, Health Minister Danny Naveh and Agricultural Minister Yisrael Katz, in opposition to the government’s budget proposal.
Livnat announced her opposition to the budget after her meeting with Acting Finance Minister Ehud Olmert failed to result in more appropriations for education. The 2006 budget plans on cutting education allocations.
Discussions regarding the budget and the upcoming cabinet vote have become tense since all eight Labor party ministers intend, as of now, to vote against the budget proposal. The cabinet is expected to vote on the budget proposal Tuesday night.
Interior Minister Ofer Paz has called on the cabinet to postpone the vote for two weeks in order to allow the new finance minister to make the budget more oriented toward social needs.
Paz said, “A serious government cannot approve a budget while ignoring the poverty report.” According to the report released yesterday by the Social Security Administration, over 1.5 million Israelis are living below the poverty line in 2004; one-third of all Israeli children live in poverty.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon admitted at Monday's cabinet meeting that the poverty report pointed toward a worsening economic situation for Israel’s poor. He said that 2004 was bad for the economy as a whole because it was still in recession. He expressed hope that prospects for the poor would improve in 2006.
Commentators expect the Labor ministers to either abstain or vote in favor of the budget. Olmert is expected to allocate an additional 1 billion shekels for social concerns. That money may be taken from a budget surplus which Israel is expected to incur in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Olmert and Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer have warned the government that if the budget proposal fails to pass the cabinet, Israel’s standing in international markets will be hurt.
Livnat announced her opposition to the budget after her meeting with Acting Finance Minister Ehud Olmert failed to result in more appropriations for education. The 2006 budget plans on cutting education allocations.
Discussions regarding the budget and the upcoming cabinet vote have become tense since all eight Labor party ministers intend, as of now, to vote against the budget proposal. The cabinet is expected to vote on the budget proposal Tuesday night.
Interior Minister Ofer Paz has called on the cabinet to postpone the vote for two weeks in order to allow the new finance minister to make the budget more oriented toward social needs.
Paz said, “A serious government cannot approve a budget while ignoring the poverty report.” According to the report released yesterday by the Social Security Administration, over 1.5 million Israelis are living below the poverty line in 2004; one-third of all Israeli children live in poverty.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon admitted at Monday's cabinet meeting that the poverty report pointed toward a worsening economic situation for Israel’s poor. He said that 2004 was bad for the economy as a whole because it was still in recession. He expressed hope that prospects for the poor would improve in 2006.
Commentators expect the Labor ministers to either abstain or vote in favor of the budget. Olmert is expected to allocate an additional 1 billion shekels for social concerns. That money may be taken from a budget surplus which Israel is expected to incur in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Olmert and Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer have warned the government that if the budget proposal fails to pass the cabinet, Israel’s standing in international markets will be hurt.