Minister of Finance Yaakov Ne'eman last night (Wednesday) expressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the veiled threat that if the Prime Minister was thinking of taking over the reins of the budget negotiations with the coalition factions, he would have to find himself a new Finance Minister. This happened after Netanyahu met with the National Religious Party (NRP) faction’s negotiating team, headed by Transport Minister Yitzhak Levy, following a faction meeting which resolved to opposed the budget on first reading.
Ne'eman dropped similar hints in the ears of a number of faction members, in case an unpalatable policy should be imposed on him.
Thus menaced, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the team to leave him out of it, and to continue the negotiations with the Minister of Finance only. Netanyahu, however, remained in the picture, all Ne'eman’s moves being co-ordinated with him.
The NRP, with ten MKs, was the main obstacle in the way of a coalition majority for getting the budget approved. A subsequent spoken understanding between the negotiating team and Yaakov Ne'eman for reducing the education budget cut from NIS 250 million to something in the range of NIS 100 million, along with an agreement to correct other distortions in the Religious Affairs and Welfare ministries budgets, resulted in their opposition being withdrawn.
Using the same tactics, Ne'eman was able to thaw the opposition of Yisrael Ba’aliya, when an understanding was reached on their demand for increasing rent and mortgage assistance to new immigrants and needy members of the public. Ne'eman consented that this matter, like the demands of the other factions relating to reduced children’s allowances and amendments to the Health Insurance Law, would be examined by a coalition committee working vis—a-vis the Finance Ministry.
Ultimately, with all opposition withdrawn, the budget and the Arrangements Law passed on first reading by a small majority of 48 in favour and 44 against. Opponents included two Moledet MKs, Rehavam Ze’evi and Benny Elon, and two Gesher members, Maxim Levy and Yehuda Lankri. The other members of Gesher, Minister David Levy and MKs Michael Kleiner and David Magen absented themselves from the vote, even though Kleiner and Magen had decided to support the budget. They stayed away at the request of Minister David Levy, who did not want Gesher to present a divided front at the voting.
Minister Ne'eman’s media adviser refused to either confirm or deny the story of the minister’s veiled resignation threat, commenting merely that the Finance Minister and the Prime Minister were fully and closely co-operating at all budget preparation stages.