The Introduction

The Council of Ministers approved the budget formula that is being circulated today in the halls of the Knesset for approval in the Knesset committees and the three readings. After it was presented to the Knesset members from the coalition and the opposition, and to the press and the public, voices began to rise, including those in support, and those in opposition and warning.

In any case, this budget, with its distributed numbers and allocated amounts, remains just a coalition agreement as long as it has not yet been approved by the Knesset.

But before addressing the amounts and the size of the proposed budget, we must first understand the budget for its direct impact on our daily lives as citizens of this country in general, and its impact on us in particular as a national minority that has suffered over the years, and draw our own general lines that will help us live with dignity in the present and in the future.

First of all, it is important to stop at three main axes for evaluating the state’s recent general budget:

How and under what circumstances was this budget approved? What are the outlines of this budget? What are the package of adjustment laws accompanying the budget?

We all know that since 2018, no budget has been approved as is the practice in the state. Rather, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed the state’s economy as permitted by law, with what is called the “supplementary budget.” Today, we are in the second half of the year 2021, and we have been living for nearly a month and a half under a new government composed of several political and national currents, including the United Arab List.

We do not forget the Corona pandemic and the economic damage it caused to the state, which forced the government to spend the billions that were allocated in the past for purposes other than those for which it was spent. The question remains here: Does the current government take into account the direct and indirect damages of the Corona pandemic, on top of which is the issue of unemployment in the country in general and in Arab society in particular?

During this period of a month and a half, the Ministry of Finance submitted a budget proposal in harmony between Prime Minister Bennett and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and it was approved by the Ministerial Council, which did not happen under the previous government during the three years of its rule, and this in itself could be risky or risky move.

Outline this budget

The budget, in its content, is mathematical and contains the items of income, expenditure, and the resulting deficit. For example, the state’s general budget, which was approved by the Ministerial Council, amounted to 432.5 billion shekels in 2021, with a deficit of 6.8%, and in 2022, its size amounted to about 452.5 billion shekels, with a deficit of 3.9%.

It should be noted that this budget as a whole is conditional on a horizontal reduction in ministries’ budgets by 1.5%. For example, there should be a reduction of 300 million shekels in the budget of the Ministry of Homeland Security, about 1 billion shekels in the budget of the Ministry of Education, and approximately 60 million shekels in the budget of the Ministry of Justice. These cuts have a direct impact on the country’s citizens

The amounts proposed within the budget are determined according to the broad lines of this government and its policy in managing the state in its current period and according to the proposed economic plan that determines the direction of the state. After examining the economic plan, we find that the main focus of this government is to reduce the cost of living, and according to the statements of Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman: “The reforms that we have adopted focus primarily on reducing the cost of living.”

“We have invested huge amounts of funding in infrastructure, transportation and real estate, and we have implemented important reforms that will reduce bureaucracy and make it easier for everyone in our daily business or private life,” Lieberman added, explaining the broad lines of the budget for the years 2021-2022.

The Law of Settlements accompanying the budget contributes to understanding the broad lines on which this budget was based.