Budget Law passed • Yaakov Asher to Lapid: "Er feishteit nischt en kalkala"

A majority of 58 in favor and 44 opposed passed tonight (Monday) the budget for the years 2013-2014 and the first reading of the Arrangements Law. At this stage, the laws will be transferred to the Finance Committee that prepares them for the second and third call.

The plenary recorded a sharp confrontation between the minister Yair Lapid and between Shelly Yachimovitch opposition leader and Orthodox Knesset members, especially MK Moshe Gafni, who Lapid attacked that during his chairmanship of the Finance Committee he was "robbing the public purse."

To the many opponents from the opposition Lapid responded: "That's the way most of the Israeli electorate chose, accept it and get used to it."

He accused the Opposition Leader Shelly Yachimovich of cowardice and flight from responsibility: "You could have stood here in my place and presented your budget, but you were afraid, you run away from the responsibility because it is much easier to sit on the sidelines and criticize."
Further on he attacked MK Gafni of Yahadut Hatorah, "Gafni said I do not know what I was doing, what is his explanation? He was the legendary chairman of the Finance Committee, does the phrase I received a budget cut to the yeshivas and threw it into the bin' sound familiar? I went digging into your garbage and found there the one from last year and and the one before it was a year of robbing the public coffers and a deficit that I am dealing with and you are one of its architectures".

So too he attacked Shas MK Atias, the former Housing Minister said: "MK Atias, you talk about housing prices? Has the shame passed from the world? Should I remind you of the scandals which happened on your shift? Should I remind you how all the resources of the Ministry of Housing went to Beit Shesmesh, Charish, how you spent a full term spent worrying about only one sector?"
A fascinating dialogue took place between MK Litzman and Lapid who asked Lapid: "If there was a secret ballot, by how much do you presume it would pass?" Lapid said "by an overwhelming majority." Litzman responded: "I'll tell you: perhaps five. Even you may not vote for it."

Lapid also attacked Meretz: "You live in an imaginary world with imaginary economy. I also listened to Deri, Shas chairman who speaks of the poverty cycle. There is such a process - as soon as a camera is lit it catches the story about the children's sad eyes. I am still not three months finance minister, for 30 years you sat in the government and did nothing. You commemorated a culture of poverty; we only save these children from poverty. "

Following Lapid's speech at MK Gafni went up to speak and said that in view of "Lapid's slander" he is interested in turning the budget vote into a vote of mistrust in the government.

Asher: "Do not be the fig leaf of the atom budget"

MK Yaakov Asher opened his plenary speech, "according to the choir of Yesh Atid MKs which repeated themselves over and over again today, it seems they had enough time to sit down with media consultants, and this is apparently the message that media advisor Yair Lapid told them, in which he tried in every way to clarify how well they are going to do.

"Do not be the fig leaf of this cruel and atom budget. Do not be tempted by idle promises," he called to Yesh Atid MK's and turned to MK Pnina Tamnu Shatah, representing the Ethiopian sector party: "I do not even want to think about how you would rebel if they would take the budget book and mark only the sector you came from. Who like you experienced in the past and terrible ongoing discrimination as we go through these days."
Asher continued, "It has been published today in the media that the Orthodox who want to work do not get accepted to jobs, you ask why? Your answer is incitement against the ultra-Orthodox public, what employer would want them after such incitement?"

Further on he turned directly to Lapid: "It is time you start talking to your voters and stop talking with voters of the ultra-Orthodox parties in Yiddish, and if we are dealing with Yiddish, then when your Treasury officials and economists talk about you they are saying, "Er feishteit nischt en kalkala" [He does not understand economics]."

Finally he said: "Haredim are not afraid to pay the price for their justice and belief, but you the Minister of Finance will be standing in another year with bare hands when your voters are not willing to pay that price."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!