JERUSALEM (VINnews) — It is one thing to be ignorant but another matter when the ignorant person is attempting to make radical and harmful changes in an area where he has no knowledge or expertise. This was demonstrated in amusing fashion when Israeli finance minister Avigdor Liberman was interviewed regarding his plan to abolish subsidies on public transport but had no idea how the subsidies work.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Israelis use an electronic bus pass, known as a Rav Kav (since it can be used on many different formats of transport) which can be loaded from time to time. When it is loaded with a certain sum, the card automatically adds a sum of money to subsidize the trip. The current budget being passed by the Israeli government seeks to cancel the subsidies, thus placing a heavier burden on weaker elements of the population who require public transport. Chareidim in particular rely on public transport and will be severely affected by the cancellation of subsidies.
When Liberman was asked on a television panel regarding the cancellation of subsidies he replied that “it is not for poor people, it is not a pass for youth or senior citizens, it is for one time use” demonstrating that he has no inkling of what bus passes are used for.
Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu was quick to respond that “Bennett, Lapid and Liberman are raising public transport prices to fund their government. Liberman said that “Rav Kav is a one-time ticket which is not for youth or senior citizens.” This is what a detached government looks like, a government which raises prices and taxes to maintain itself.”
Journalist Yanki Farber pondered why socialist elements in the government like Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz were not protesting the planned cancellation of subsidies. “Tell me, Mr. Horowitz, don’t you have a bit of compassion? A little, I didn’t expect a lot, just a drop of compassion.”
Others quipped that Liberman does not know what Rav Kav is but thinks it is connected to rabbis and therefore sought to harm those who use it.
Lieberman has become the main reason that this government should fall. The Chareidi community has not seen this level if rishus in many years.
Bennett does nothing and will tolerate this and more, so long as he remains in power.
Bring them all down.
It’s hard for me to find anything nice to say about Lieberman. But I also don’t see why a government should subsidize any form of transportation in a well-adjusted society. If Israel wants to be thought of as a civilized country, it’s long past time it should extricate itself from its 1950s/60s socialist cesspool.