The Eli Hurvitz Conference on Economy and Society, organized by the Israel Democracy Institute, opened in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Discussions centered on “The macro-economic picture on the eve of war and its effects on the economy.”
MK Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Yisrael Beytenu, opened the session on the challenges of public service in Israel by strongly criticizing recent governmental decisions.
Governmental waste and cronyism
“With a single stroke, offices are created that no one understands why they exist, mainly to distribute money to cronies. Why do we need a Heritage Ministry, a National Missions Ministry, and the Unit for Strengthening Jewish Identity headed by Avi Maoz?” Liberman asked. “When you look at where the money is going, it’s not going to the war effort; it is not going to evacuees, it’s going to cronies.”
Liberman expressed deep concern over what he described as the government’s submission and mismanagement of the state budget. “What they've done with the state budget is presenting a fiction to the public. We have approved an additional budget that does not connect the data and your proposal. And they will have to bring the budget a second time. What is the connection between the deficit target and what we currently have?” he questioned.
“It’s truly about submission, and I can't believe there has never been such a weak civil service in the Finance Ministry as there is today.”
Liberman also criticized the allocation of funds, particularly the increase in allowances for yeshiva students and reductions in transportation costs, which he argued disincentivize work. “Day by day, there are systematic hits on factories, including direct hits with local authority heads on Metula, Shlomi, many homes have been destroyed. All of this someone needs to fund, but there’s no money to fund bomb shelters even though the money is budgeted, despite all the communities along the confrontation line,” he said. “People have been evacuated, really disrupted from their routine, but money is being spent on the Tradition, Heritage, and National Missions Ministries, and this is how it looks.”
Normalization with Saudi Arabia: A dangerous misstep
In his concluding remarks, Liberman addressed the topic of normalization with Saudi Arabia, expressing his opposition. “It is the wrong thing to do for the State of Israel because, with all the other things, and all the normalization issue, the core of the agreement is the approval Israel gives to the Saudi nuclear program.”
Liberman pointed out the contradiction of Saudi Arabia, one of the countries with the largest oil reserves in the world, suddenly needing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. “Everyone understands that this nuclear project is not intended for peaceful purposes. How did the nuclear program in Iran start? A reactor to produce energy for peaceful purposes. There, they trained all the people currently working on nuclear weapons.”
He warned that Israel’s commitment to the Saudi nuclear program would have far-reaching and dangerous consequences. “Israel has committed to giving it approval and helping to pass it in the Senate. Currently, there isn’t a majority for it, certainly not without Israel’s active participation. And thirdly, we commit not to attack the Saudi nuclear facilities. This will plunge the entire Middle East into a frantic nuclear arms race, and I'm not sure we can handle it economically,” Liberman said. “It’s a slippery slope that Turkey, Algeria, and others will enter into this nuclear race, and I don’t want to think about the consequences. And all-around survival, political considerations, and the upcoming weekly poll. This is not normalization; this is a military nuclear program that plunges the entire region into madness.”