Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs, and Information Gilad Erdan called on the ministers from the Likud and Jewish Home parties to vote against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal not to extend the pay raises for soldiers in the permanent army to policemen, Israel Prison Service guards, and retirees of the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the Mossad. The extension will allegedly cost NIS 8 billion. In an interview with the morning program hosted by Ishay Shnerb on Galei Tzahal (Army Radio), Erdan alleged that the Ministry of Finance and Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon "misled the prime minister," and warned that ministers who support Netanyahu and Kahlon's position would pay a political price among tens of thousands of policemen's families.
The cabinet will convene tomorrow to discuss the prime minister's proposal, according to which the salary increment paid to permanent army soldiers for an "absence of job security" since 2006 is a special increment that will be applied only to permanent army soldiers. Permanent army soldiers have received this increment since 2006 under the IDF's agreement to accept thousands of job cuts in the permanent army.
The policemen, prison guards, and ISA and Mossad pensioners petitioned the labor court to receive the increment retroactively to 2006. The labor court granted the petition, but the Attorney General believes that the High Court of Justice may agree to reverse the ruling if the government revises its 2006 decision. According to Ministry of Finance figures, retroactive payment of the increment will cost NIS 7 billion in a one-time payment and NIS 620 million more afterwards.
Erdan said today that the Ministry of Finance's data were false. He noted that policemen and prison guards also had no tenure or representation by a workers' committee, and argued, based on the Locker report, that the number of permanent army soldiers today was greater than it was in 2006. "If we're talking about lack of job security, why did they also pay this increment to pensioners? It is a salary increment for all intents and purposes.
"There is a decision going back decades not to give preferential treatment to different members of the security forces. Acting counter to rulings by the labor court is an offensive, unjustified, and immoral decision, and will also justifiably cause political damage. There are tens of thousands of families who are being deprived of what they are legally entitled to before Rosh Hashanah. I hope that members of the Likud and Jewish Home parties think well before they vote in favor of this decision," Erdan declared.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 4, 2018
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