Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told his cabinet over a Zoom screen full of ministers that he is submitting for their approval “a series of appointments, as well as a framework decision approving grants to the citizens of Israel in order to spur the economy and also help create employment. We are talking about a NIS 6 billion framework.”
The grants worth roughly $1.75 billion, will be awarded every living Israeli, whether they need it or not. A family with one child will receive NIS 2,000 ($581.66); with two children NIS 2,500 ($727.08); with three children and more NIS 3,000 ($872.49). And every childless Israeli man and woman will receive NIS 750 ($218.12).
“We will appoint a ministerial team that will approve the method of allocation,” the PM continued. “The most important emphasis is on speed, with both the system and the decisions; therefore, this discussion that we want to hold needs to happen in the next 24 hours, if not today, then tomorrow, but no later, so that we can implement it as quickly as possible.”
The vast majority of Israeli economists, as well as politicians and pundits have suggested that $1.75 billion could go a long way to lift Israel’s collapsing healthcare system out of its quagmire. They also noted that if the funds were focused on those Israelis who are facing serious economic hardships rather than those for whom a couple thousand shekels won’t mean much, the PM could do a lot of good.
But Netanyahu insisted last Thursday, when he introduced his plan, together with Finance Minister Israel Katz, that the idea is to boost the economy. Let every Israeli go down to their nearest grocery store and buy stuff, thus restarting the near-paralyzed economy.
Needless to say, $1.75 billion won’t do much to revive Israel’s economy. Instead, Israelis will experience a few feelgood moments normally associated with found money, and the crisis will charge full on.
The PM also talked about flattening the coronavirus curve, but so far it isn’t clear which healthcare guidelines are in place at any given time. If you stopped an average Israeli on the street today and asked what’s the current rule regarding dining in restaurants, swimming on the beach or in public pools and going to a gym they would probably give you a puzzled look that suggests they no longer know – since the government’s policy has switched and changed several times on these and other subjects.
The common word describing the current situation in the country is balagan, meaning disorder, mess, riot. It’s a Russian word with its origin in Persian, and it describes well a country whose healthcare policy is a matter of constant renegotiation and political infighting (see: Netanyahu to Fire Knesset Coronavirus Committee Chairwoman Who Won’t Close Gyms, Pools).