Many things can be said about Israel Katz. That he is a bulldozer, not counting anyone, promotes the projects he believes in without stopping for a moment. That he is difficult, that he is a political man and that his decisions during the Corona period were political rather than economic. But one must also remember that in the end – he is the minister and his job is to make the decisions. Yes, so it is when there is a proper manager, the officials bring their professional opinion and advise according to the best of their experience, abilities and skills, but the bottom line – the one who makes the decision is the minister in charge – who will also carry out public criticism if any.
But in Israel today, the ministers have become officials of the officials, or at least, so the officials themselves believe. This also happens in the conduct of the legal advisers, who “instruct” the ministers what they should do and what not to do, and those who know the Ministry of Finance – know that this is how things are conducted there as well. There, by the way, it has been for many years – the budget department is sorry for the expression – the minister “in the eggs” has been in office for a very long time, moving and moving budgets from item to item and keeping reserves. Shaul Meridor, who is now portrayed as a hero fighting Katz, knows very well what I am talking about – he was active in some of the plans and sticks of the treasury. These are far more serious offenses than the accusations against Katz and the other finance officials: “Cross red lines” without really explaining what we will cross?
Last week, on the “Fact” program with Ilana Dayan, former Finance Ministry director general Keren Turner and former Finance Ministry budget director Shaul Meridor came out against Finance Minister Israel Katz and took out everything they had to say. legitimate? Not really.
Turner-Eyal, who was appointed by Israel Katz to the position of director general of the Ministry of Transportation and worked there for 3 years under him, said that in the Ministry of Transportation “very quickly we had a very good time working together. I saw a minister who did not rest for a moment, and was never satisfied and I died for it. I felt like we were climbing uphill and giving a sprint. I was very proud, and I was glad I was in the ministry. “She then went on with him to the Ministry of Finance. Anyone who is not satisfied with the performance of the CEO who works under him does not call on him to join him in the most important ministry in Israel. But Katz thought she was right.
With such an idyll, it is difficult to accept the claim of Meridor and Turner-Eyal that the reason for their resignation is the plan to distribute NIS 500 to each child, as they claimed in the plan, nor any other gifts distributed to the people. “The first time I hear about the idea of distributing NIS 500 to each child in an economic discussion with the prime minister,” Meridor said, bearing in mind that the finance minister at the time was still a window. Turner Eyal added: ‘It was pulled out, they have no details. They did not go deep at all, did not do any staff work. ‘ But if the arguments themselves are not convincing enough, then what did they do in “Fact” to help convey the message? Introduce Turner-Eyal with the kids at home, and Meridor at a football game.
But the truth is that this “sport” of officials who decide for the minister what to do, and attack him when he does not listen to them – they did not invent. For years now, whenever the Minister of Finance makes a decision, a factory of rumors and leaks to the media begins as long as the Minister is wrong and makes his own decisions without them. The same thing happened to Yuval Steinitz a decade ago, and the same thing happened to Lapid and Kahlon.
The truth must be told – the bad decisions of Lapid and Kahlon as finance ministers were very problematic. Lapid wanted to throw money at the young people with a zero VAT plan in order to forcibly lower housing prices (a move that did not materialize in the end) and Kahlon did throw endless money to every claimant (at least 7 billion on a price-per-tenant plan that did not lower housing prices , And an additional NIS 22 billion for the police), precisely in a period of economic growth, when if these funds had not been thrown away in such a hasty decision – the state would have at least another NIS 30 billion to deal with the corona crisis, and perhaps even prevent the sharp jump in deficit.
But with all the criticism of these finance ministers – they are the ones who made the decision and the aforementioned criticism is directed at them. But the finance officials were confused, and forgot that their job is to advise the decision-makers, who as stated will face the fire of public criticism.
And what does the former CEO of the AVD think?
Whoever decided not to remain silent and respond to the attacks of Turner-Eyal and Meridor is Shai Babed, the former director general of the Ministry of Finance appointed by Kahlon in 2015, and ended his term with the formation of the last government. This morning (Sunday), he criticized the “officials” of the Treasury, in their dealings with the media, as part of the Dun & Bradstreet Capital Market Forum that took place in the presence of industry executives.
According to the AVD: “I think part of the problem stems from the gatekeepers themselves. When you are an incumbent, your job is to advise and persuade the political parties, to give a recommendation – you do not set the policy, you implement it.
“The officials were confused, every time the minister decides something that does not suit us, we will text, torpedo, and defile. These are things that officials, especially in the Treasury, would do morning news and create a serious crisis of confidence between the professional and political echelons. “It was good for them to have a great deal of confidence in the prime minister, to implement decisions and to push for policy. His power stemmed from the fact that he understood his role. All discussions between the political and professional echelons that I, as former director general of the Ministry of Finance, participated with behind the Ministry of Health.”
“In the first closure, when there was a good sign in the front, the management of the corona was much clearer and more uniform, the prime minister made decisions based on recommendations given by the professional echelon. Today the professional echelon is ostracized, fearing leaks and slander. “In order to implement the decision and the trust that it is very important to have between a professional level and a political level. This is a very important balance. At the end of the day, the power to make decisions can be given to the political level, which is not always professional.”
What is the responsibility of the Minister of Finance for not transferring the budget?
“The fact that in the end there is no budget for the State of Israel is the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance! Their full responsibility. There is no doubt that there is no budget, it is a failure of the government. The responsibility of the Minister of Finance is to harness the professional echelon. The result is problematic. ”
Even if the claims are true – you should contact your superiors and not the media
In the AVD: “There is no doubt that the Ministry of Justice is our gatekeeper. The allegations made by the director general of the Ministry of Finance, the Turner Foundation and Shaul Meridor, who served as head of the budget department, are serious allegations. “Apart from populism and promoting the rift in the nation, I do not see how this move solves anything. Those who can really solve the issue are only the Attorney General and the State Comptroller.”
Low interest rates
“The interest rate adapts itself to the inflation targets set by the Bank of Israel, and as a result the exchange rate is derived. Since the Israeli economy was strong, the shekel strengthened and the dollar eroded.”
Were decisions made to date, regarding the corona crisis, made on a factual or political basis?
“There are minimal threshold conditions in the selection of elected officials, specialization and understanding of the field they intend to manage, which is very lacking today and as a result we see the quality of leaders, how the government is run and how the processes are run.”
“There is no doubt that the end of the first closure was very political and decisions were made for political reasons. There is a dysfunctional government, many meetings were canceled, and no decisions were made, especially when there were two prime ministers, it is an unacceptable situation. It is clear to everyone that there can be no two CEOs.” To the sea for company. For some reason it seems that two prime ministers this is possible. There was a particular dysfunction that there was no free love here, and here is the reason why political decisions are made. ”
Did the personal interests of the Prime Minister precede the considerations of the citizens of Israel?
“I, on the other hand, saw a total lack of function due to structure, two parties, a very large lack of experience, a lack of understanding in the field they manage and in addition a lack of experience in leading processes.
How does the lack of a state budget affect the Israeli capital market?
“This is the first time in the history of the State of Israel that there has been no state budget for about two years, which leads to a lack of priorities, in terms of the health system, security and more. Moreover, we are in the great economic crisis the state knew and no one notices it, there is no long-term view. “The current practice is that there is no budget and priorities and no structural reforms, a strategy to get out of the crisis – we are the citizens of the country paying a price. It is inconceivable that in such a period there is no budget, it is wrong and unhealthy and causes damage to the Israeli economy.”
Who is responsible for this?
“There was a government here that was supposed to pass a budget, to take care of Corona it also means to take care of the budget instead I saw them dealing with a million other things.”
Is there no budget just for personal reasons concerning the Prime Minister?
“There is no budget because the Israeli government did not function and because of foreign political considerations! Each camp places the blame on the other side. I do not care if Bibi or Ganz are to blame. As a citizen of the country I expect my government to take care of the state. The new government must approve an immediate budget for 20 The fastest budget he can pass will be in July-August 2021. Only in May there will be a government and the fastest possible budget will be in July. At the same time they will have to bring significant structural reforms – how to accelerate traditional industry, how to deal with unemployment, as a result of the model The ineffectiveness of challah and more. ”
Are vaccines significant in returning the economy to routine?
“Assuming the vaccine catches the mutations and contains them, I guess as early as March April the Israeli economy will open, and we can put it back to employment. If there are mutations that the vaccine does not contain we will have to face new challenges. If there is no functioning government we will run ourselves shut down and hit the economy hard. More”.