Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Israel’s Netanyahu Tells Cabinet to Back Budget or Risk Government Collapse


Reuters, 04/08 15:47 CET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who holds just a one-seat majority in parliament, warned ministers on Tuesday that his government would collapse if they did not put a stop to their demands and rally behind his 2015-16 budget.

The cabinet is expected to vote on the package on Wednesday. But there are deep divisions among ministers, with even some members of Netanyahu’s own Likud party saying they will not vote in favour of the draft as it stands.

Ministers already secured an extra 8 billion shekels (£1.35 billion) for the budget plan, which covers more than 414 billion shekels. But they are still asking for more spending on defence, police, and education, while also pressing for value added taxes on basic goods to be scrapped.

“The State of Israel will have a budget because otherwise it will not have a government and our economic and security situation would deteriorate,” Netanyahu said in terse remarks ahead of a meeting of key ministers.

Full article available here: Netanyahu Tells Cabinet to Back Budget.... 

Source: Euronews

No comments: