In a fiery interview Wednesday night on Radio Galei Yisrael, Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat deflected responsibility for Israel’s skyrocketing cost of living, instead blaming a series of other government bodies — including the Finance Ministry, the Competition Authority, and the Israel Land Authority (ILA).
“The Competition Authority is interfering with us,” Barkat declared during the wide-ranging 30-minute segment on the program The System. “The Finance Ministry has no interest in dismantling monopolies. Period.”
Barkat argued that the very agencies tasked with curbing the cost of living are the ones standing in the way of progress. “The authorities that are supposed to help reduce prices are delaying the necessary actions,” he charged.
When asked about dysfunction within his own ministry — particularly regarding the Competition Authority — Barkat revealed, “I asked the director of the Competition Authority to resign, but the attorney general blocked the process.”
He further claimed that the Finance Ministry itself derailed his efforts to control prices during wartime. “We tried to advance legislation to restrain prices during the war, and the finance minister vetoed it,” he said.
Addressing his flagship reform initiative, promoted under the slogan “What’s good for Europe is good for Israel,” Barkat insisted that deeply entrenched monopolies are deliberately trying to sabotage progress. “The monopolies in Israel are strong and are attempting to obstruct the reform,” he said.
Turning to Israel’s housing crisis, the minister pinned the blame squarely on the Israel Land Authority. “The Israel Land Authority is speculating with land,” Barkat said, when asked why young Israelis remain perpetual renters.
Concluding the interview, Barkat called for a radical restructuring of how land is managed in the country. “I call to dismantle the Israel Land Authority, divide its powers into two parts, and transfer the management of industrial zones to my ministry,” he said, adding that “the Accountant General in the Finance Ministry is an enthusiastic supporter of dismantling the Israel Land Authority.”
{Matzav.com}
