BICOM

A senior legal advisor has told the Knesset that the state budget is expected to be delayed as the relevant parliamentary committees have not made the requisite progress required to bring the budget to a vote.

Eyal Yinon wrote a letter to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, saying: “Clear instructions were given to committee chairpeople and their legal advisers about the relevant timeframes… emphasising that they need to give the legal office a number of days to work after voting in the committees in order to edit and reword in light of the length of the bill and its complexity.”

Yinon also made clear that this had not transpired, especially in the crucial Knesset Finance Committee, where most of the work for the budget and the accompanying Economic Arrangements Bill takes place.

Yinon said that “the end is not on the horizon,” regarding the Finance Committee’s work, particularly as “the committee has not even started its discussions” on a controversial proposal by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon to introduce a new tax on third and subsequent properties owned by the same person.

The official deadline to pass the annual state budget is 31 December. Due to the upcoming week-long Knesset break for the Jewish festival of Chanukah, second and third readings of the legislation were scheduled for 19 and 22 December respectively.

With this deadline appearing unrealistic, the government is expected to exercise its right to request a three-month extension. An eventual failure to pass the budget would be considered a no-confidence vote in the government and would trigger an election.

Last week, the opposition Zionist Union launched a campaign to expose the government’s imposition of “hidden taxes” ahead of debate surrounding the budget.

The opposition’s  leaders accused the government of deception, by claiming to be reducing taxes while the public pays increasing prices for fuel, after-school care and many other essential items.