BICOM

Manuel Trajtenberg, the Zionist Union’s candidate for Finance Minister yesterday unveiled his proposals for economic reform alongside party leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni.

The Zionist Union ticket, a joint Labour Party and Hatnuah list, is considered to have strong socio-economic credentials. Trajtenberg himself headed a special committee to make recommendations in the aftermath of the unprecedented 2011 social protests.

Herzog introduced the plan dubbed the Social Reform Programme, saying, “The Israeli public has been under socioeconomic attack for years,” adding “There is no horizon, no hope,” especially for the middle class. The wide-ranging plan itself includes sections on housing, education, health, cost of living, poverty, inequality, elderly care and employment.

At its core, Trajtenberg said it would enable an increase in government spending up to 40 per cent of GDP, bringing it into line with the OECD average. However, he stressed it would not entail an increase in taxes, with the cost shouldered partly by more efficient tax collection and sums set aside to exempt many first time home-buyers from VAT. He also said that the lack of affordable housing would be addressed partly through making land available for free, commenting, “The land is on us, the apartment is yours.”

A Likud Party statement said that Trajtenberg’s programme would empty the state coffers as, “The entire funding for it is based on economic growth, and that, the Left simply doesn’t know how to do.”

Meanwhile, Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu Party, which is campaigning on socio-economic reforms yesterday revealed its plans to separate credit card services from the banks, which it said would increase competition and lead to a significant consumer saving.

In other election news, Shas leader Aryeh Deri said that if Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid is unprepared to alter his stance on certain issues, “there’s no situation in which we can sit together” in government. It is likely that the two parties would both need to be included in a coalition if Zionist Union is to form a government.