The Cabinet approved a series of belt-tightening measures by top echelon civil servants and government departments to conform to the new economic austerity program imposed by the government earlier this month. Information Minister Aharon Yariv, who announced the measures, acknowledged that they would not save vast sums of cash but said they would have an important psychological effect at a time when the public is being asked to curtail consumption. The Cabinet ministers themselves decided unanimously to forego half of the cost-of-living increments due them this January. Yariv reported.
Among the measures ordered by the Cabinet were: The limitation of receptions or dinners given by government departments to foreign guests only and on a less lavish scale than heretofore; meetings of government officials to be confined to their offices, not to be held in hotels or restaurants; no overnight stays by government officials in five-star (luxury category) hotels; overtime pay maximums for government officials to be cut by 25 percent and car allowances by ten percent.
The Cabinet also decided that government offices will not be redecorated or re-furnished. The approved economies will also apply to government corporations and local authorities, Yariv said. The Cabinet appealed to the academic faculties at Israel’s universities to postpone all planned Sabbaticals abroad for one year.
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