By LAHAV HARKOV
03/08/2011
After National Housing C'tees Bill passes in Knesset, Netanyahu says reforms meant to solve high cost of living by slashing prices; Livni slams PM: People are screaming for social justice, not charity.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said his goal is to respond to social issues while keeping the market free, shortly after the linchpin of his housing reform passed in its third (final) reading in the Knesset on Wednesday.

The prime minister told the plenum that the Israeli economy is enjoying unprecedented growth, adding that the average salary in Israel is higher than that of many European states.

"Then why, you ask, do Israelis have trouble finishing the month? Because our prices are higher than those in Europe," Netanyahu said, explaining that his reforms are meant to solve the current socioeconomic problems by slashing prices.

Lamenting the "wave of populism that hit the Knesset," Netanyahu explained that "the solutions must preserve the preserve the free market while responding to social issues."

Netanyahu's National Housing Committees Bill passed with 57 MKs in favor and 45 opposed on the final day of the Knesset's summer session.

MK Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) summed up the opposition's reservations about the bill, which were presented by MKs for hours on Monday and Tuesday, before it was brought to a vote.

"Real estate sharks are going to receive a multi-million shekel gift today," Sheetrit said. "This law will have a negative influence on building processes here, and will serve real estate sharks that will build higher, stronger and more expensively."

Chairman of the joint Knesset Economics and Interior Committee on the bill Carmel Shama-Hachohen (Likud) spoke out against those who said Netanyahu and his housing bill help real estate tycoons get richer.

He scolded opposition MKs for spreading "senseless hatred, which caused the destruction of the [second] temple on the ninth of Av 2,000 years ago."

"Anyone who saw this bill, or even skimmed it, knows that only the government, municipalities and the Israel Lands Authority can submit plans to National Housing Committees," he pointed out.

Construction and Housing Minister Ariel Atias compared the current construction planning process to a traffic jam.

"People wait in line for five years, because plans are backed up," he explained, adding that the new bill will drastically shorten the planning process.

The housing minister also addressed the complaints that the bill does not provide enough "accessible housing."

"The real problem is that there is no legal definition for 'accessible housing' – who deserves it, how much money would that person make," Atias explained. "We would have to pass a separate bill for that."

The National Housing Committees Bill is one of the central components of Netanyahu’s housing-reform plan. The bill is meant to circumvent usual construction- planning bureaucracy in order to build new homes.

The bill would allow for the temporary formation of six national-housing committees, which would work to accelerate the process of approving building projects in the next year and a half.

There will be one committee in every region in Israel, which will be responsible for providing all of the authorizations necessary to begin construction only for projects with over 200 homes built mostly on state land.

A number of changes to the bill were approved in its second reading. For example, some of the homes will be designated as rentals for the next 10 years. A housing project for minority groups may have only 100 homes, a change made in response to complaints that the bill was irrelevant to small Arab towns. In addition, the Knesset will investigate the bill's implementation every four months.

Immediately following the vote, the Knesset discussed a letter drafted by Kadima and signed by 40 MKs on "the failures of the Netanyahu government in diplomatic, economic and social matters."

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni (Kadima) said "a government that the people oppose is not legitimate. This is a real democracy," she added, in reference to the housing protesters.

"This is not a protest against the State of Israel, but for it. However, this is a protest against the policies of the government you head. They are screaming for social justice, not charity or favors, but justice," Livni said, quoting a popular Israeli rap song: "Everyone is talking about peace, but no one talks about justice."

"You say you understand economics," she added. "Maybe you do, but you do not understand people. While you are proud of low unemployment rates, you do not see the people who work hard, but still have hard lives."

"I saw you and [Finance Minister Yuval] Steinitz sitting and laughing this week," MK Ronnie Bar-On (Kadima) said to Netanyahu. "What reason do you have to smile or laugh?"

Bar-On referred to a Likud faction meeting in which a Likud mayor said that the protest tents are filled with "sushi eaters and hookah smokers," saying: "He saw a few demonstrators, and you quickly took advantage of the opportunity to cause conflict and split up parts of the nation. You said that only Ashkenazi Jews are there, and no Sephardic ones or right-wing people."

"You really are at your best," he added sarcastically.

MK Ayoub Kara (Likud) called MK Ronnie Bar-On (Kadima) a "corrupt dog," an "embarrassment," and an "idiot," before he was removed from the plenum.

Later, MK Nissim Ze'ev (Shas) opined that Bar-On's words could not be harsher if he "hit Netanyahu on the head with a bat."

"This is a democracy, but first we should be civilized," he said.

Various opposition MKs said the prime minister is ignoring the public protests.

UAL-Ta'al MK Masud Gnaim compared the protests to the French Revolution.

"People took to the streets in France, and the king did not understand what was happening until someone said to him: 'Sir, this is a revolution.' The same is happening with Netanyahu," Gnaim said.

He lamented the problems with planning and construction in Arab villages, saying "this government only deals with Arab homes through destruction and bulldozers."

Habayit Hayehudi MK Uri Orbach pointed out that "when the opposition does not have the power, they say they'll give out apartments, free education, whatever the public asks for. It almost makes me miss those days."

However, "when you were in power, you all behaved like Likudniks," he quipped.

Livni is a moron "social justice" is government forced charity.

But I don't see the government taking this step for racial reasons. Moshavs' are made up of Jews that came from Arab countries, which historically were the under class.

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