Major differences emerged at an informal meeting of the economic round table last Wednesday, with Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini strongly opposing a two-year budget. The economic round table was established after the Netanyahu government came into office with the objective of establishing liaison between the government, business groups, and the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) on economic policy measures, including the state budget and the annual economic arrangements law, structural reforms, and emergency plans.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz represent the government at the round table, Manufacturers Association president Shraga Brosh represents employers, and Eini represents the unions.
All the round table members met at Netanyahu's home for dinner last Wednesday. Minister of Defense and Labor Party chairman Ehud Barak was also present. Sources inform ''Globes'' that they discussed a number of issues, including the next state budget.
The sources added that Netanyahu expressed his wish for a two-year budget for 2011-12, and for full cooperation and coordination in preparing it, as was the case for the 2009-10 budget. However, from the outset, Eini, the strongest man in the economy, said that he opposed a two-year budget, and that he wanted to return the normal format of annual budgets.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 14, 2010
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