Working parents should be entitled to free daycare from birth, not just from age three as is the case now, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman said at the conference for the Institute of Certified Public Accountants Monday.
“The approach should be changed for daycare for 0-3-year-olds,” Liberman said. “It should not be according to test but according to earning capacity. If both parents work full time, they will be entitled to free daycare. There is no point in punishing those who work hard and have to pay high prices for daycare.”
Liberman, who was greeted on the stage with a birthday cake to celebrate his 63rd birthday Monday, said that the main mission in his role as finance minister would be to pass a budget that will encourage growth. Liberman expects that Israel will pass a new two-year budget by November, which would be Israel’s first budget since mid-2018. “It will essentially be a 14-month budget: for the last two months of 2021 and next year,” he noted.
A number of steps are needed to lead the changes in the Israeli economy, including making structural changes to streamline government operations, reducing regulations and bureaucracy, and increasing competition in the financial fields, including introducing more non-banking and institutional entities to the market.
Now in his new position for about three weeks, Liberman seemed to concede that certain goals of his may not be achievable yet due to the fragile state of the new coalition.
Regarding benefits to the haredi sector, one of the demands he has been most outspoken about, Liberman said that “student and child benefits should be cut to encourage the ultra-Orthodox to integrate into the labor market – although due to the composition of the coalition, this will not be possible to change now.” He noted that when former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut benefits in 2003, this helped increase the integration of haredim into the labor market.
Another plan – to make unemployment benefits available for the self-employed and not just jobless salaried workers – “will not be possible in the current budget, but is definitely an important issue to be discussed for the next budget,” he said.
Liberman also said that the salaries of IDF soldiers should be increased to show them that they are appreciated, and not friars (suckers).”
Regarding the high prices of housing, the finance minister said actions would be taken to see that building permits are issued much more quickly – within three months – so that many more housing starts can be made.
Liberman noted that the job of finance minister is generally a thankless one filled with political risks, but he said it is important for him to manage the economy properly and bring it to a higher level.