The nationwide battle against this year's decrees was to open
on Tuesday afternoon when hundreds of yeshiva directors and
school principals arrived at the Galei Tzanz Hotel in Netanya
to participate in a National Emergency Conference to protest
coldhearted plans by the Sharon government to undermine the
yeshivas and other chareidi educational institutions. The
conference is expected to reach operational decisions on
specific legal steps to take in the fight against the plan
that threatens to bring about the collapse of hundreds of
yeshivas and other institutions in Eretz Yisroel, chas
vesholom.
Because of the no-confidence motion filed by United Torah
Jewry and Shas in the Knesset on Monday night, the Union of
Yeshiva and Torah Institutions Directors postponed the
conference by one day to allow MKs to take part. Gedolei
Torah are slated to address the rabbonim, roshei
yeshivos, MKs, public figures and heads of the Union of
Yeshiva Directors who are taking part in the conference. The
participants will also be presented with detailed reports on
Sharon's plans to cut funding for yeshivas and Torah-based
educational institutions. They will also be updated on the
March and April payments that have yet to be transferred to
hundreds of institutions.
Religious Lobby Chairman Rabbi Shmuel Halpert said Monday
night, "The plan, commonly known as an `economic plan' for
some reason, is essentially a plan to starve hundreds of
thousands of Jewish children. The current Sharon government
has made a strategic decision to systematically destroy the
chareidi sector. The Gezeiros of 5763 have nothing to do with
an economic plan, since in order to cut the budget the
government has received alternative proposals, including
those made by Bituach Leumi. It is inconceivable that while
Torah institutions and Child Support Payments ["kitzva'ot
yeladim"] are being subjected to such deep cuts, and
funding cuts are being made that will result in the collapse
of families and [educational] institutions, they are bringing
thousands of goyim into Israel and investing billions in
this. We must unite forces against the government and fight
against this despicable plan."
According to the Bank of Israel's Department of Research,
"Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's economic plan will not
achieve even half of its goals" with regard to the budgetary
deficit. Experts at the bank say even if the plan is executed
in full it would reduce the deficit by merely NIS 5 billion
($1.1 billion), while the Finance Ministry declared two
months ago it aimed to cut a total of NIS 11 billion from
the budget.
According to experts the economic plan intends to reduce the
deficit this year to less than 5 percent of the gross
domestic product (GDP) which would be NIS 25 billion, while
the anticipated deficit in the government budget could total
NIS 30 billion.
A survey by the Bank of Israel also indicated that the
economic recession is continuing, although the capital market
has shown marked improvement, alongside revaluation in the
dollar rate and a decrease in inflation forecasts. It remains
premature to determine whether this points to a shift in
economic activity, say the experts.
On Monday in the Knesset, United Torah Jewry and Shas MKs
launched a harsh attack in the Knesset Finance Committee
against the government and the Finance Ministry for their
plans to cancel the birth grant ["ma'anak leidah"]
starting with the second child.
Secular MKs also joined the attack, calling the proposal
bizarre since it would only save NIS 170 million of the NIS
240 million Bituach Leumi pays birthing mothers every
year.
Committee Chairman MK Avraham Hirscheson asked to hear
Bituach Leumi Director-General Professor Yochanan Shtessman's
opinion on the matter. Shtessman declined to relate his
position in detail, saying only that he was opposed to the
proposal. Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev rejected the claim
by MK Rabbi Litzman that the proposal was integrated into the
economic plan in response to demands by Shinui.
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni remarked, "How could the hand of the
person at the Finance Ministry who drafted this proposal not
have trembled? Were this decree only against the chareidi
sector perhaps it would have been understandable, since the
chareidi public is fair game. Its blood has been let by the
present government. But here we are speaking of every mother
who gives birth, whether she is chareidi or secular. Whether
she lives in a development town or in Herzliya or North Tel
Aviv. Why did you make this proposal? Why strike out at the
birthing mother, who needs every cent to buy basic, primary
needs for the baby?"
