“The Marker” journalist Merav Arlozorov dedicated her column last Friday to the challenges of the new finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, and said that he is “flying” in the office.
“Sharp, sharp, intelligent, well-versed in details, listens and understands deeply are just some of the superlatives that officials attach to his head, including the most impressive superlative of all: ‘It’s like working with Benjamin Netanyahu in 2003,'” Arlozorov wrote, mentioning that Netanyahu as finance minister rescued Israel’s economy from a deep crisis thanks to a series of bold and groundbreaking structural moves.
Arlozorov points out that a signal regarding Smotrich’s abilities as finance minister was received last week with the announcement of the intention to limit the power of the sole importers in the food market. “This is a significant structural move, which requires a confrontation with some very rich importers, although its effect on the cost of living in the food market will probably be only slight. The really big companies in the market – Tnuva, Strauss or Asem – for the time being, Smotrich has avoided touching, and he has not touched so far In the government barriers that prevent competition in the industry: kosher, agriculture and the Ministry of Health.
“Smotrich’s ambition is in the sky, and it is certainly possible that he will touch some of these barriers in the future. The Treasury is counting on Smotrich to fulfill all their dreams for structural changes: this is after all a minister of finance with right-wing, neoliberal worldviews, who comes to work and is not afraid of anyone. The combination of All of this could make Smotrich an exciting, even historic, minister of finance.”
Arlozorov later claimed that the “extreme worldviews” of Smotrich and the government could endanger Israel’s economy, “The streets of Israel are burning with public protest unprecedented in its scope, and there is a never-before-seen fear of a civil war breaking out.
Hi-tech executives warn against harming foreign investments in the local industry, and some estimate that the day will not be far when Israeli hi-tech companies will leave the country – because affiliation with the state will harm their ability to raise capital. Also, the possibility of a wave of abandonment of Israel by established classes, because of the visible damage to democracy, is no longer only whispered in private rooms.”