What happens when a Knesset member provides a figure but is completely wrong? This is what happened to MK Yanon Azoulai of the Shas, who passionately argued in the Finance Committee of the Knesset that honey prices did not decrease even though the members of the Knesset and the farmers “did everything” to make this happen. According to Azoulai, “a sting came out of the honey. We did not see a discount in honey. Despite everything they asked for and did and the minister (Agriculture, Oded Porer. NA) came and we sat down and did everything to have a discount in honey – but we got the sting. Take a tour of the farmers. After we reached an agreement with them and they believed, they turned the farmers around. They brought reforms from here until a new announcement, lowering prices in everything, but in the end we still haven’t seen it.”
There are two problems with MK Azoulai’s words and another general problem – the first problem is that MK Azoulai said things that are not true: Yad Mordechai honey is sold in marketing chains such as Shufersel or Victory at a price of NIS 42.9 per kg, while honey that arrived imported from abroad , within the duty-free quota, is sold at a price of NIS 19.9 per 900 grams, which is about NIS 22 per kg, that is, a 49% reduction in the price of honey. So why does Azoulai claim that “we have not seen a discount in honey”? to Azoulai for the solutions.
The second problem is Azoulay’s claim that the farmers and members of the Knesset “did everything” to lower the prices and supposedly folded to help the public. But the reality is different – Knesset members forced Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Agriculture Minister Oded Porer to exclude honey from the agricultural reform, and this after significant pressure including demonstrations and claims that Porer is “destroying agriculture in Israel”. Thus, instead of opening for free imports (which, as mentioned, lowers the price for the consumer by 50%) we were left with a temporary quota for only one year. Following the pressure of the agricultural lobby, the scope of exempt imports was reduced by 90% and in any case this will not remain long-term and therefore when the customs return – it will no longer be profitable to import and the price will remain high. Maybe that’s why honey producers in Israel, led by Yad Mordechai, are in no hurry to lower prices. They know that this is temporary and then they will be able to continue charging high and exorbitant prices from the Israeli public.
It is needless to point out that according to the preliminary data that is currently available from the Victory chain – the imports did not harm the local market, but the volume of purchases by the entire public jumped by 35%, which means that the farmers are complaining that they are being harmed, but even that is not true.
It is important to remember – the studies show that opening the market to imports lowers prices by dozens of percent. This is what a study by the Competition Authority stated, for example. For example, hard cheese imported through a competitive process is about 25% cheaper compared to the controlled price in Israel – that is, it may be bad for stakeholders but it is good for the Israeli public (for more on the study – click here).
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And here is the general problem – The general problem is who the members of the Knesset serve. Azoulay presents himself, the other members of the Knesset and the agricultural lobby, as those who came with good intentions and the finance people as those who ‘worked’ for the farmers. But this is far from the truth – in practice, the agricultural lobby and the Knesset members it operates make sure to keep the Israeli market closed to imports, that is, to block imports to Israel and thus keep prices high for the consumer. It’s bad for the consumer but good for the stakeholders.
Once again it becomes clear that some Knesset members are not serving the public but the pressure group. It sounds good, it rings good in the ears of the general public, as “protecting local produce” and “helping farmers” – but someone pays the price, and those who pay the price are all the citizens of Israel who are forced to consume expensive goods, which have already been proven to have a cheap substitute Much better (and not necessarily less good).
By the way, Azoulai himself admitted in the discussion that he serves the interested parties and not the general Israeli public: “I am with the farmers in everything. The story is about changing the perception of harming farmers.” So salvation for the people of Israel will not come from Azulai. The question is whether the other members of the Knesset will choose to act in the public interest. Past experience (also recent) shows that this is not always the case.
The list of Knesset members who acted in the last Knesset in a way that is bad for the public and good for interests is long, but they are acting against the public, so they should be written: Ram Shefa, Alon Shuster, Yair Golan, Emily Moati, Gilad Karib, Efrat Raiten-Marom, Ibtisam Maraena, Gabi Laski, Naama Lazimi, Ruth Wasserman Landa, Alon Tal, Mofid Marai, Yael Ron Ben Moshe, Michal Rosin, Mossi Raz, Nira Shefak, Inbar Bezek, Ram Ben Barak, Ali Salalha, Gida Rinavi-Zoevi and Michal Biton – all members of the Knesset from the coalition that will soon be replaced, When the latter (Michael Bitton) is the Chairman of the Economic Committee (outgoing) and sits on the Shiver, so he has even greater power than the others to sabotage the important reform – and as mentioned they were successful in the honey issue at least (for more on their actions and how it harms the general public – click (here). But the stakeholders in the Knesset are not limited to the outgoing government – MK Moshe Gafni with the issue of freezing the mortgage interest rate and now also Yanon Azoulay prove that this will remain with us in the coming years as well.
The one who obviously rushed to the supermarket to present the 50% cheaper price is the outgoing Minister of Agriculture Oded Forer. According to Forer: “This is the best answer to the representatives of the populist lobbyists in the media and the Knesset, such as MK Yanon Azoulai of Shas, who throw slogans about the cost of living but work to close the market.”
Here is the video Porer uploaded to social networks:
The move I led to open the honey market to competition is proving itself and its price has dropped by about 50%!????
This is the best answer to the representatives of the populist lobbyists in the media and the Knesset, such as MK Yanon Azoulai of Shas, who throw slogans about the cost of living but work to close the market. pic.twitter.com/SdtCqfZIfA
— oded forer Oded Forer (@oded_forer) December 13, 2022
MK Yanon Azoulai’s office did not respond.