Den Bock zum Gärtner machen.

Den Bock zum Gärtner machen.
English equivalent: "To trust the cat to keep the cream."

Monthly benefits package for one Yeshiva Student'with ten children.

( He and his wife do not work ! )

Yeshiva student allowance	845
Income Support	1040
Scholarship	2000
Child allowance	2500
Boarding school discount	3000
Holiday gifts vouchers	500
Discount in municipal taxes	250
Water bills discount	150
Kindergarten discount	620
Discount in national insurance & health insurance	550
Torah lessons	500
Net "Benefits Basket"	11,955
Gross with social benefits	17,667

Finance Ministry: Yeshiva Budget Won't be Cut

After weeks of discussions between Chairman of the Finance Committee and officials from the Finance Ministry, Gafni is finally getting what he wants - the Ministry is capitulating. The yeshiva budgets will not be cut as part of the coalition agreement, nor will budget-balancing grants intended for local authorities. The final expected lateral cut stands at just one billion shekels.

Avi Moshe 10/11/2009

The Finance Committee approved this morning a revised draft of the plan for a lateral budget cut from government ministries. One billion shekels, as opposed to two - which was the sum originally approved by the government - will be the final amount. It came to light that the government does not have a majority vote in the Finance Committee to ask for any additional cuts. In the new proposal, the demand to cut 314 million shekels from the yeshiva budgets has been omitted. Nine Knesset members voted in favor of the new proposal, while six voted against it.

During a Finance Committee discussion that took place this morning, Budget Director Udi Nissan explained that only half of the original sum will be cut from the yeshiva budgets and the rest of the funds will be taken from extra money in the treasury. The money to be cut from government ministries will be use to pay for Mexican Flu vaccination, and fund certain Defense Ministry needs.

Of the billion shekels to be cut, the Finance Ministry did not include a cut from the yeshiva budgets. "United Torah Judaism" was not prepared to forfeit the increased yeshiva budget that it had so recently procured, as part of a coalition agreement with the government. In addition, the "maanakei izun" - budget-balancing grants - for the local municipalities will not be cut.
During the discussion, Knesset member Chaim Oron said there is no reason for any budget cut. "Nothing new has happened since the country's budget was approved, to justify such a large cut in so many areas."

Knesset member Shelly Yachimovitz said, "I feel like we were tricked. We just approved the two year budget, and they are already asking for cuts. Everything could have been spelled out ahead of time. Borders have been breached. It isn't right that every time the Defense Ministry needs something, we say 'amen'. The Israel Police needs one billion shekels to control crime - that is no less important."

And Knesset member Harmosh said that until today, nobody has ever opposed transferring funds to the Ministry of Defense. "The fact that so many of us are against this, must be a sign that it is truly not justified."

Knesset member Rachel Adato said that the budget cut was made in order to provide 500 million shekels to the Ministry of Health, in order to purchase Mexican flu vaccinations, but she is not clear how that sum was reached. "We are buying vaccinations for 7 million people, but half of them cannot have the vaccination, and among those who can, not everybody will. So how was the sum of 500 million shekels calculated? I demand a detailed explanation of what that money will be used for, after it is taken away from other budgets."

At the end of the discussion, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Knesset member Rabbi Moshe Gafni said that the approved budget cut will not harm a number of areas, including education, day care, services for the disabled, "Minhelet Selah", the universities, and many other welfare services. "Despite the good news, the fact that this budget cut was proposed so soon after the bi-annual budget was approved is unacceptable to us. I am voting in favor of the cuts with a heavy conscious."

Last week, "Etrog" reported that at the conclusion of a round of talks between the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Rabbi Moshe Gafni, and senior officials in the Finance Ministry, it was agreed that the yeshiva budgets would not be touched within the framework of the lateral cuts.

A few weeks ago, Rabbi Gafni met with Finance Minister Steinitz, who urged the Chairman of the Finance Committee to put the proposed budget cut of 2 billion shekels up for a vote. He also asked Gafni to reach a compromise regarding the cut of 314 million shekels from the yeshiva budget. At the time, Gafni firmly refused to comply.

After that particular meeting, Gafni said to "Etrog" that he was confident that the Finance Ministry would retract its original plan to cut the yeshiva budgets. "I am in charge of the Finance Committee. It is the Minister of Finance who needs me," Gafni clarified. "Therefore, there is no need to demonstrate or protest. They will come to me, they will sit with me, and I will explain to them what I am talking about. It's that simple."

Chairman of the Finance Committee, Knesset member ( Shas ) Rabbi Moshe Gafni

Israel, M.K. Rabbi Yakov Litzman,

( Ex Chairman of the Finance Committee

and Deputy Minister of Health )

P.S.

Why "Deputy" and not the proper title - "The Minister of Health" ? Huh?!...

Simple !

Ministers take the Oath of Office in front of a 'full' Knesset!.. Deputies - DON'T !

Imagine...

..." I, Rabbi Yakov Litzman, my mother's beloved son,

hereby declarer:- That I will fulfill faithfully my duty

as a Minister in the Israeli government and will obey

the laws of the Knesset. "...

Hummm, too many words in RED !