Summary of editorials from the Hebrew press
Today’s issues: Criticism of intended taxation on home rentals, anti-minority censorship has no place in a democracy, the new coalition has no horizon and no future, and the dire water shortages in the Middle East.
The Jerusalem Post criticizes finance minister-designate Moshe Kahlon’s stated intent to tax income derived from rented apartments in an attempt to reduce housing prices, and states that “The war against real estate investors has altogether failed to deflate the real estate bubble.” The editor believes there are many tax exemptions that should preoccupy the new finance minister before the low-rent exemption, which in any event will merely serve to transfer income from the middle classes to the taxman and make a bad situation worse for the have-nots , and declares: “A combination of populism, hubris and inexperience can prove disastrous and set off unforeseen consequences that damage all aspects of the economy.”
Haaretz declares that Haifa municipality’s decision to freeze funding for an Arab cultural center in the city for staging a play written by a convicted PFLP terrorist responsible for the abduction and murder of an Israeli soldier in 1984 has no place in a democracy, and adds: “This act of administrative censorship is particularly worrying in that it suits the anti-minority atmosphere in Israel today, which targets Arabs in particular and includes demands by politicians for curbs on freedom of expression in regard to controversial issues.” The editor states that demands on cultural institutions to conform to the tastes of the political majority “share characteristics with fascist regimes,” and laments that these “can only be expected to grow stronger under the incoming government.”
Yediot Aharonot comments on the formation of the new coalition government, and states that for the first time in its history, “Israel’s 34th government is starting out with the sense that it has no horizon, no future.” The author likens the marriage between Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett to a game of Russian roulette that Netanyahu lost, but cautions Bennett against early celebration: “In Israeli politics, a victory is just a prelude to a defeat in the future.”
Yisrael Hayom describes the dire water shortages in many Middle Eastern countries, and notes that “Israel provides the sole exception to this regional tale of woe.” Thanks to a combination of conservation, recycling, innovative agricultural techniques and high-tech desalination, Israel currently has all the water it needs. The author contends that “the looming drought-driven upheaval of populations — probably the very worst of the region’s many profound problems — can be solved, with brainpower and political maturity,” and suggests that our neighbors, in their plight, “might think about ending their futile state of war with the world’s hydraulic superpower and instead learn from it.”
[Nahum Barnea and Daniel Pipes wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]
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