A plan by Finance Minister Shimon Peres to cut through the bureaucratic morass in order to expedite worthy economic projects won Cabinet approval Sunday.
The government will now ask for a special session of the Knesset to push the measure through in the form of legislation.
The Cabinet vote was 14-2 in favor of the plan, with 10 abstentions.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir was among the supporters of the Peres plan, though many Likud politicians, including Industry and Trade Minister Ariel Sharon, have been deriding it.
But there were only two actual dissenters Sunday: Environmental Protection Minister Ronni Milo of Likud, who called the plan a public relations stunt, and Science and Development Minister Ezer Weizman of Peres’ own Labor Party.
Peres’ proposal is to set up a ministerial committee consisting of himself, Construction and Housing Minister David Levy of Likud and the minister of interior, Arye Deri of the Shas Party.
They would select 100 pending projects deemed to be of economic benefit to the country and see to it that those projects get swift attention by all government and local authorities.
Peres and his aides believe the plan will make a major dent in unemployment in a relatively short time. When the new projects get off the ground, job opportunities will be created all over the country, they say.
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