Two papers discuss various economic issues regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\’s and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz\’s decision to enact a series of steps including raising VAT, raising taxes on gasoline, alcohol and cigarettes, imposing a surtax on high income earners and an across-the-board budget cut at Government ministries:
Ma\’ariv suggests that two factors spurred Prime Minister Netanyahu into announcing the aforesaid steps now. The author says that the first was what Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer wrote in Monday\’s announcement on the August interest rate: "\’The decision to increase the deficit target to 3 percent of GDP and the uncertainty of meeting the target raise the concern that the credibility of fiscal policy—which was a central component of the economy\’s success in dealing with the previous crisis—will erode.\’ In plain Hebrew, the Governor showed the Prime Minister a yellow card regarding the economy. Economists at the international credit rating agencies are reading what the Governor said, and from their point-of-view, this is an unequivocal message – The Israeli economy is in danger of deteriorating." The paper believes that the othe! r reason is the need to prevent investors from "running to the dollar," and says "Yesterday, in the wake of the program of cuts, the flight to the dollar calmed down somewhat." The author calls on the Prime Minister to "show leadership and public courage and immediately take up the 2013 budget."
Yisrael Hayom believes that "The Government must be alert to two factors that play an important role in the public\’s response to the [aforesaid] steps: True, one must be careful in raising taxes on the rich out of concern over the flight of capital from Israel, but the worship of money that characterizes Israeli society and causes damage in various areas must stop. At the same time, the Arab and ultra-orthodox sectors must be brought into the cycle of those who pay taxes."
Yediot Aharonot lauds the latest statistics regarding the success of the ultra-orthodox Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the IDF Nahal Brigade as "good news for both Israeli society and the ultra-orthodox world." The author, a former GOC Personnel, notes that the latest figures show that battalion graduates are finding work (most at jobs that pay higher than the national average), acquiring degrees and meeting with greater acceptance in both the ultra-orthodox sector and society at large.
The Jerusalem Post discusses the BBC’s blatant bias in its coverage of Israel, and states: “The BBC has managed to flabbergast even those Israelis who hadn’t expected minimal fairness from it.” The editor believes that while the BBC’s palpable anti-Israel predispositions, outright inaccuracies, mind-boggling omissions and other such shenanigans may damage Israel, they undermine the BBC’s own integrity. The editor concludes: “For its own good, [the BBC] ought to desist from so flagrantly exposing its bias.”
Haaretz notes that “Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz injected a dose of sobriety into the public debate about Syria\’s stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons,” and states: “The test of the IDF sometimes means engaging in action and sometimes refraining from action. In the frenetic atmosphere surrounding Israel\’s political leadership, Gantz\’s measured voice has an important contribution to make.”
[Yehuda Sharoni, Dan Margalit and Elazar Stern wrote today’s articles in Ma\’ariv, Yisrael Hayom and Yediot Aharonot respectively.]