Would Avigdor Liberman make a good finance minister?
Liberman is a believer in free markets, with a strong social safety net for those who contribute to the system.
By ZEV STUBYisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman on November 20, 2019.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mandate to form the next government came to an end on Tuesday night, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid seemed the most likely candidate to be given the next shot at building a coalition. Whether Lapid or someone else ultimately succeeds, there is a growing consensus that Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman will most likely become the next finance minister.“Liberman had actively campaigned to be the next finance minister in the last election,” said Ashley Perry, who previously worked as Liberman’s adviser when he served as foreign minister between 2009 and 2015. “He believes very much in changing the national agenda of where our money goes.”Perry characterized Liberman as a strategic thinker with a keen ability to spot long-term trends, take advice from experts and develop long-term plans to achieve goals.“Liberman is one of the few long-term strategists in Israel who identifies problems and challenges years before anyone else does,” he said. “After years of having someone in the position who just thinks day to day putting out fires, he is a person who is thinking five or 10 years down the road.“I also saw during his time in the Foreign and Defense ministries that he is someone who turns to experts for advice instead of thinking he knows how to do everything by himself. He regularly meets with the top experts on a field, gets a lot of different opinions and then sets out a strategic plan. He comes into the ministry and really studies it, putting his head down for a few months to really get to know what is needed.”“Liberman is a believer in free markets with a strong social safety net for those who contribute to the system,” Perry said. “His very public antagonism toward the haredi [ultra-Orthodox] communities relates closely to his economic views.“He’s a right-of-center market capitalist, slightly to the left of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu. He believes very strongly that the system should work equally for everyone, with no community getting privileged or prioritized over another community. Whoever contributes the most to the system should benefit the most, and whoever contributes the least benefits the least.“People who need welfare should receive it, but people who don’t deserve it should be incentivized to contribute. For one community to get prioritized over other communities is an unsustainable model.”Liberman plans to invest heavily in infrastructure projects, decrease bureaucracy and regulation and reach a long-term arrangement to rein in the power of the Histadrut labor union. He is staunchly dedicated to drafting haredim into the army and canceling the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly on kashrut. He believes pension plans should be strengthened and does not intend to raise taxes.The job of finance minister is fraught with perils as Israel seeks to recover from the coronavirus crisis. Unemployment remains high, as does the national debt, and the public is hungry for change. Before anything else, a multiyear budget needs to be passed quickly to reset national priorities.
