Last week Rabbi Moshe Gafni's proposal to exempt public
institutions from capital gains tax on inheritances passed
the Knesset with a majority of eleven votes. Four Knesset
members opposed the bill, all of them from Tommy Lapid's
Shinui Party. Rabbi Gafni noted, "The behavior of the members
of Shinui proves that this party has fascist and racist
leanings."
According to the existing law, a public institution receiving
assets from donations or estates is required to pay capital
gains tax when selling these assets. In contrast, a private
citizen receiving such assets as inheritance is exempt from
paying this tax when he sells it.
The intent of Rabbi Gafni's proposal is to exempt public
institutions from the capital gains tax, simply equating them
to private individuals who are not required to pay taxes on
the sale of inherited assets.
Among the Shinui members opposing the proposal was MK Mody
Zandberg, who had supported a similar proposal in the
previous Knesset when he represented Tzomet. The Shinui
members' vote against the law seemed unrelated to its
content, especially since the Government had proposed a
similar law in the past so that it could not be termed a
chareidi law. Their opposition apparently stemmed from the
fact that the law was proposed by a chareidi.
Later, when MK Yehudit Naot of Shinui raised her own
proposal, MK Rabbi Gafni opposed it, although he was actually
in favor of it. In his remarks, he pointed to the manner in
which the Shinui members had voted on his proposal.
"I have been in the Knesset for three terms," Rabbi Gafni
said, "and have never seen such a thing. Most of the work in
the Knesset focuses on specific issues. Most of the laws
which I presented concerned social issues. They pertained to
all citizens of the country and there was a consensus
regarding them. But then a new party entered, and all Shinui
members together, voted against a law I raised. Why? Because
it was raised by a chareidi Knesset member. That's the
reason. Even Mody Zandberg voted for it in the previous
Knesset, and today he voted against it because he is in Tommy
Lapid's party."
MK Tommy Lapid did not contradict Rabbi Gafni's assessment.
