Israel’s 1994 state budget calls for increased spending on education and the infrastructure and lower tax rates for middle-income earners.
Finance Minister Avraham Shohat, who presented the budget to the Knesset on Monday, said the government is looking forward to accelerated economic growth as a result of the Sept. 13 signing of the self-rule accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Shohat also cited Israel’s improved standing in the international community following the historic signing as a factor in the anticipated economic growth of the country.
The budget was scheduled for a vote Wednesday before it is sent on for committee approval within the Knesset.
The final vote on the budget will take place before the end of 1993.
Shohat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin have won a pledge from the fervently religious shas party to support the budget when it comes up for a vote.
Rabin and Shohat were also busy securing the backing of Labor Party Knesset members who had been threatening to withhold their votes because of their concern about unemployment and social policy.
On Tuesday, Shohat met with Abdel Wahab Darawshe, a leading Arab Knesset member, and promised to make good on government pledges to the Arab sector in return for the votes of the two Arab Knesset factions — the Arab Democratic Party and the Communist-led Hadash — that are aligned with the government but are not part of the governing coalition.
The overall state budget for next year will be approximately $44.3 billion.
Major outlays called for in the budget include: $11.7 billion for dept servicing and repayments; $6 billion for defense spending; $9.1 billion for social service; and $5.6 billion for spending on domestic programs, which includes a $700 million increase in spending on education.
Shohat predicted in his Knesset address that the country would face major economic changes as a result of the accord with the PLO.
He stressed the importance of “filling the agreement with economic content” and said the basic economic relationships between Israel and its Arab neighbors should change radically — for the benefit of both sides.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
