The salaries for MKs will be calculated based on the national average salary published in 2020 instead of the national average salary which will be published in 2021.
Ginzburg proposed the bill despite the existence of a bill already proposed by the Likud Party that would do the same but goes even farther, cutting government salaries by 10%.The Knesset Committee is only authorized to discuss the salaries of MKs. The Finance Committee is authorized to discuss the salaries of other government positions.
Knesset Finance Committee chairman Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) will reportedly hold a discussion on freezing the salary increase for the prime minister, the president, ministers, judges and others.
The salary of those holding office is expected to rise by about NIS 6,500 in January 2021, in accordance with the average salary in the economy. The salary for MKs currently stands at NIS 45,274. Ministers and the opposition leader receive NIS 50,673."It is good and proper that Knesset members unanimously agreed to waive the wage increase for 2021. At the same time, this is a half-step in the right direction," said the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, calling for the link between the average wage index and the salaries of MKs and other government officials to be abolished.
Ginzburg’s announcement comes after Finance Minister Israel Katz (Likud) proposed a bill more than a month ago that would stop the planned salary increase and implement a 10% cut in the salaries of members of the government, including MKs, ministers, the prime minister, judges, the state comptroller and the president, among others. The proposal was unanimously approved by the government in September.
A 10% cut in these salaries would save the state coffers about NIS 70 million, according to Globes.Ginzburg addressed Katz's proposal during the committee meeting on Monday, saying that the proposal is still under discussion in the government so the committee felt that it was correct to initiate a proposal to at least freeze the salary of MKs in the meantime.
Blue and White opposed Katz’s bill, saying that it was the initial proposer of the bill, but that it is now going against the bill being proposed by the Likud due to Likud action against Blue and White proposals, including expanding Internet infrastructure in the periphery, privacy protection on the Internet and other reforms, according to Calcalist.
Knesset committees can meet and decide on salary cuts for senior and elected officials, even if legislation on the issue has not been passed.
About 25 MKs have announced that they will not take the salary increase in any case, including Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and MKs from the Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beytenu parties, among others.