Israel’s politicians from both Right and Left have lost their sense of compassion. They have lost their sense of embarrassment.
Likud, Blue and White, the New Right, Meretz, and, of course, Labor are all collaborators with the financial terror organizations – also known as the major labor unions. Knesset after Knesset, government after government, they kneel before the labor unions, the Histadrut, and the powerful cartels that enjoy state sponsorship.
They can call the method they celebrate socialism, or social-involvement, or unionism. But no word in their newspeak will conceal the truth: They prefer the strong over the weak. They choose the easier political path at the voter’s expense and at the expense of Israel’s economic prosperity.
There is no dearth of examples, but without a doubt, a great recent one involves the train workers. Let’s devote a few words to them if only because no other politician dares do so. Last week, the train workers announced that they won’t operate the train line to Jerusalem. This move was just the latest in a never-ending saga of strikes and sanctions.
They hijack and abuse Israel’s citizens without losing a shekel of their salaries. In 2018, train workers went on strike or imposed sanctions for no less than 100 days. Not one worker was fired for this abuse of Israel’s citizens. It seems that bullying pays. The average wage of the train workers skyrocketed eight percent over the last two years to 2.5 times more than the average salary in Israel.
This wild salary hike has created a deficit for Israel Railways. Despite the 1.5 billion shekels that Israel’s citizens transfer to Israel Railways annually, last year it had a shortfall of 330 million NIS. The voters, naturally, made up the difference. And they will continue to do so, and stand in traffic jams, if they continue to vote for Knesset members who are addicted to the large trade unions.
Because in the upside down world in which we live, being a socially involved MK in Israel means being Histadrut-involved. Being a socially involved MK means rolling your eyes while the well-off, strong union workers exploit you and hit you in your pocket. Zehut will be the most socially involved party in the next Knesset. But it will truly be socially involved.
We do not intend to touch the state commitments to the disabled, elderly, or single mothers. Despite the fact that we believe that the community and society can do a much better job than the government, we have no intention of gambling on the fragile lifeline of the weakest Israelis. No. In the next Knesset, when the Finance Ministry is in our hands, we will create a true revolution: We will outsmart the strong.
We plan to block the path of the labor unions to the Knesset. We plan to stop the coercive Histadrut tax – organization fees levied upon Israeli workers. We plan to prohibit strikes in services like Israel Railways, airports, ports, and the electric company. We plan to restore the option of terminating employment as a management tool in the public sector.
Because an employee who scorns his place of employment should not be working there. A position in the public service sector does not mean the right to receive, but rather the right to serve the public.
In coalition negotiations, we plan to demand the Finance Ministry so that we can realize all of this. For the politicians, spin masters, and journalists who seek to defame us, I have one message: Wake up, get a life, and plan a new route. Israel’s citizens will not go backwards.
They understand that the old political cages of right, left, ultra-Orthodox, religious, and secular were meant to keep them weak and preserve the forces who rob their money and their freedom. They understand that a vote for the Zehut liberty coalition is a vote for a just, ethical, prosperous, better society – a state in which economic bullying is not an option, and the fruits of economic growth will reach all the citizens and not just a handful of insiders.
On April 9, Israel’s citizens will give us the power to safeguard the Finance Ministry. Get used to it.