Finance committee fails to approve emergency financial plan

Meeting to vote on emergency financial plan breaks down after committee chairman MK Braverman announces no vote to take place on plan that does not include security net for pensions

Reuters | Published: 11.30.08, 12:50

A meeting of the Knesset's Finance Committee broke down Sunday, following a harsh verbal exchange over the inclusion of a pension security net in an emergency financial plan designed to mitigate the effects of the global economic crisis.

MK Avishay Braverman (Labor), the chairman of the committee, announced at the beginning of the meeting that there would be no vote on a plan that did not include the security net.

Most of the Knesset members on the committee opposed any delay of a vote on the proposed plan and attempted to pressure Braverman into changing his mind. After 50 minutes of vitriolic debate between the chairman, committee members, Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On and Histradrut Labor Federation Chairman Ofer Eini, Braverman called the meeting to a close.

According to the Labor MK, he did so in order to provide a 24 hour extension to the sides currently negotiating with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regarding the security net, in the hopes that this will facilitate an agreement among the finance committee.

Braverman said in his opening announcement that he was deferring to a request by Olmert regarding the security net, since he was informed by the prime minister that progress was being made in negotiations on the issue.

Plan incomplete without security net

"The plan that was presented to us was flawed in that it didn't present a security net, and as such it was unclear whether the steps presented in the plan would be implemented quickly and as needed during a time of crisis that is expected by the economy, pursuant to the financial crisis… As such, the plan we received from the Finance Ministry was incomplete," he said.

The Finance Minister responded that he would not submit proposals to the Knesset Finance Committee in the future if they would not be voted upon. "Everyone here except for you thinks there is a sense of urgency," he told the committee chairman.

Former committee chairman MK Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beiteinu) echoed this feeling of urgency, suggesting during the meeting that a two thirds majority of the committee - 13 Knesset members - be used to overturn a decision by the committee chairman. He noted that Labor MK Shelly Yacimovich was the only one on the committee who had voted with Braverman to delay the vote.

Kadima Chairwoman and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni censured the delay of the vote in the finance committee. "The absence of approval of the plan (Sunday) morning is an outrage. Politics cannot supersede what is right. Critical financial decisions cannot be delayed," she said.

"The proposal brought by the Finance Ministry to the Knesset's Finance Committee, which was backed by all of the political and financial sources in Israel, must be approved and quickly," she added.