Giving up before reaching the starting line
Op-ed: Yesh Atid ministers have oddly surrendered their respective budgets with enthusiasm instead of doing their jobs and asking Yair Lapid: Where were you during Operation Protective Edge?
There's something amazing, almost unbelievable in the ease with which the ministers from Yesh Atid surrendered millions of shekels from the funding of their respective ministries. Take the ministry of education for example: Over NIS 500 million was cut from their budget in one swing of the sword. The cuts however, didn't affect the mood of the education minister one bit. In fact, he raised his hand in favor of the budget swipe.
When he played host two days ago to the prime minister in the ministry's situation room, he looked like a groom beneath his chuppah. Everything's alright, he promised everyone, everything is great and no educational programs will be affected. He didn't utter a word about the critical hit that higher education will suffer, or about the classrooms that won't be built. Piron was so smug, so pleased, that he inquired as to why his funds would only be cut by a half billion shekels. If they cut a whole billion, he would certainly go out dancing.
Where was Yair Lapid during Operation Protective Edge? (Photo: Ofer Amram)
He criticized Health Minister Yael German and Welfare Minister Meir Cohen, also ministers from Yesh Atid. German saw how the reformation she promised in health services have gone down the drain, and never opened her mouth; Cohen muttered something about the government taking from those who already have nothing, but in the end joined the herd.
Yes, Operation Protective Edge left a big hole in its wake in the nation's budget. Responsible governments deal with such holes through budget cuts and tax increases. But the question of what sectors to cut from and how much is an issue that's up for public debate. A minister's job is to struggle for the benefit of their clientele - the students and their parents, the sick and their families, the elderly, the physically impaired, and the poor. The fight for funding is the core of the job of any minister. If they give up before reaching the starting line, what are they there for?
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Over the course of the discussions to form the coalition, Yair Lapid was convinced to take the position of finance minister and leave the social offices in the hands of other representatives of his party. Theoretically, this sounds right: This arrangement insures that during abundance, the finance minister listens to the needs of the public and during times of hardship, the other ministers soften their opposition to budget cuts. In Israel, this doesn't work. There are no periods of societal abundance in Israel, only periods of difficulty. The lack of experience of Lapid and his minister have come back to haunt them.
Let's imagine for a moment an open, adult meeting of the Yesh Atid ministers. Lapid informs everyone that there is no escape from cuts in the education, health, and welfare budgets. Just one minute, says German. I read in a newspaper that the Air Force carried out 5,800 attacks during Operation Protective Edge. Every attack cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if not more. Every smart bomb costs money. Are you sure that all of the attacks were vital?
Education Minister Piron happily surrendered a half billion shekels in budget cuts. (Photo: Herzl Yosef)
I heard, says Piron, that a finance official sat with the General staff and notated every expense. Seriously, good job. This time the IDF won't be able to claim war expenses that don't exist. But I wonder to myself if the officer who released bombs on empty houses in Gaza would perform the same, knowing that his son in university or his daughter in high school would be the one's to pay the price.
You know how much I appreciate you, Yair, Cohen chimes in. But there's still a question that's bothering me: Where were you during this entire war? You had the perfect opportunity to be the leader of the people, to listen to the residents of the south, to prove that some in the government speak, and others in the government take action. Instead you withdrew, and promised verification on the death of Mohammed Deif. You wanted to be more security oriented than Bogie, more nationalist than Lieberman, more Jewish than Bennett, and more political than Livni. After all that, you're left with nothing.
You're really stubborn Yair, and I say that as a compliment. We owe a lot to your obstinacy. But sometimes you go overboard. Now, as you demand that we surrender to such cruel cuts, it wouldn't hurt anyone if you got rid of the program to buy apartments with zero taxes. You know that Slomiansky will keep squeezing you until you give up our soul, and meanwhile the contractors aren't building and when they aren't building, the prices go up and not down. Cancelling the zero taxes program will be your contribution to the national effort.
Listen to me; raise taxes even though you promised not to. After 50 days of fighting, no one will hold you to your word. Take the same opportunity to convince Netanyahu not to buy the plane he wants for himself or the palace being built for him in the government complex at the cost of hundreds of millions of shekels. The cuts, like happiness, start from within.
This conversation never happened, and of course, never will - at least until the next cuts.
