Trajtenberg C'ttee whitewashed gov't actions

Minutes of the Committee on Socioeconomic Change chaired by Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg were leaked to the media today.

Quotes in the minutes of the Trajtenberg Committee's discussions show that the government officials on the committee sought to whitewash the government's actions, which is why the document was not published until now. 763 pages of minutes of the Committee on Socioeconomic Change chaired by Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg was leaked to the media today, raising the question why the government concealed the minutes instead of disclosing how the committee's hundreds of recommendations were reached.

The Movement for Freedom of Information fought the government for weeks to disclose the minutes, reaching as high as the High Court of Justice.

All of the Trajtenberg Committee members were serving or former senior government officials, including then-Prime Minister Office director general Eyal Gabai, National Economic Council chairman Prof. Eugene Kandel, Ministry of Finance Budget Director Gal Hershkowitz and Accountant General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu established the Trajtenberg Committee in response to the social protest in the summer of 2011, but most of the committee's recommendations on taxes, housing, competition, and the public sector have not yet been implemented. The committee's main impact has been on taxes; it stopped the government's tax cutting program and caused the companies tax to be raised to 25%. Its other big success was the instituting of free education for preschoolers.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 24, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

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