BICOM

Israel’s Cabinet yesterday voted to approve the recommendations of the committee headed by Professor Manuel Trajtenberg. The committee was appointed to develop proposals for socioeconomic change in Israel, following the protests demanding social change that swept Israel over the summer. The committee’s recommendations were approved by 21 ministers, and opposed by eight. Before the recommendations can be implemented, however, they will need to be approved by the Knesset. A final draft of the report is due to be presented before the Cabinet on 1 January, after which it will be discussed and voted on by the Knesset. The report’s recommendations aim to restructure Israel’s socioeconomic priorities in order to address the issues raised by the protests, including lowering the price of goods and services, reducing education-related expenses and increasing the availability of affordable housing in Israel.

The most controversial aspect of Trajtenberg’s recommendation, however, is a proposal to cut the defense budget by NIS 3 billion. Defence Minister Ehud Barak warned against the proposal, which IDF sources quoted in the media said would slow down the development of the Iron Dome anti-missile system, ground a significant number of IAF jets and army tanks, and lead to the halting of the development of the Arrow 2 and 3 anti long range missile systems. Discussions regarding the proposed cut are set to continue. The passing of the recommendations in Cabinet represents a significant, if belated political achievement for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Prime minister’s delaying of the vote had led to speculation about possible early elections, since the delay appeared to indicate that Netanyahu no longer enjoyed a clear majority in Cabinet. The approval of the recommendations, however, is unlikely to be the final word on the issue. The Ultra-Orthodox Shas list, whose four ministers voted to oppose the recommendations, is reported this morning to be seeking a review of the Coalition Agreement – indicating that changes in the make-up of the government in weeks ahead remain a possibility.

Protest leaders also declared their opposition to the Trajtenberg recommendations, which they say fail to adequately address the housing issue. The National Student Union said it would ramp up their struggle and are preparing for renewed activity next week. The Chairman of the National Student Union, Itzik Shmuli, said “There are important parts of the report, but they are accompanied by weak actions that won’t solve the problems. You can’t solve these problems with cosmetics and grandiose words.”

In related news, representatives of medical residents walked out of a meeting with the treasury and the Israel Medical Association yesterday, renewing calls for a mass resignation to take effect today. The residents claimed when they left the meeting that no substantive headway was being made to resolve outstanding issues pertaining to their working conditions. “The only proposal the treasury put forward was to take the money that was set aside to help the periphery, and move them to hospitals in the center of the country,” one of the representatives told Haaretz. The medical residents rejected the proposal immediately, and renewed their call for a mass resignation to take place today.