Opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently following his speech at the “Globes” Israel Business Conference, where he promised 0% VAT on food items and to double grants for discharged soldiers.
“What happened? You weren’t in the government in recent years? You weren’t at the helm until now?” Herzog said. “Now you remember to talk about this. I told the opening session of the Knesset that instead of zero-VAT [for first-time homeowners] I proposed reduced VAT, or zero VAT on food items, and I explained this, and I came back and proposed a plan to the Israel Lands Administration (ILA) tenders - and I was rejected.
“Now, Netanyahu has woken up. The public won’t believe this idle talk. I intend to reduce the cost of living within up to six months from the time my government is formed, and the cost of housing with varied, healthy measures.”
Herzog went on to day, “In my government, cooperation with the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) and the business sector will be the basis of the economy. This was the basis of the success of the governments that brought relief and health to the Israeli economy.”
Herzog repeatedly attacked “Netanyahu and his friends on the far right,” and said that instead of “…stringing the public along, we need to bring solutions, and I have solutions. The problems - we can’t ignore the social gaps, it’s clear to us all that this cannot continue. It is a strategic threat to the country; not only poverty, but also wage gaps.
“We have a real problem with growth. There has been a real slowdown in the economy. How does the prime minister intend to improve this? There is no proven connection between growth and diplomatic processes, but when there are diplomatic processes, there is growth. Netanyahu sat and did nothing. He just argued. It is not possible to create optimism that the market will grow when it has seen an incessant intimidation campaign at the expense of the citizens.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 8, 2014
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