Government

The 118 information and telephone assistance center operated by the Ministry of Welfare, which began operating in 2004, and which is intended to provide information services and initial assistance to the general public, provides the most customer service. According to internal data, calls to the call center last an average of one minute and 22 seconds. "What can be done in almost 90 seconds? Maybe apologize for the lack of help or refer the caller to another source," says Edith Lev of the "Forum for Combating Poverty." The "Rabbis for Human Rights" organization reports similar cases: about...

The results of the reading and reading comprehension tests conducted in the current school year among some 90,000 fourth-graders are very worrying. Despite the experience of the Ministry of Education, it is impossible to hold on to the corona crisis and the long closures as an excuse for the dismal situation. The closures hurt students, as did the political upheavals, frequent changes of ministers, the lack of a state budget and the general neglect of the field of education by previous governments. But the findings published today are reminiscent in severity of those obtained in the...

Yesterday on Sunday it was supposed to be the most difficult morning of public transport in years, centered on two consecutive strikes by two different drivers' organizations, in different cities and at different times. But the Regional Labor Court did not approve the strike of the striking drivers who belong to the Histadrut's Transportation Drivers' Organization, and decided to issue restraining orders against them. The planned strike for Monday between 10: 00-12: 00, at present, will not take place. On the other hand, the strike of "Koach LaOvedim" was approved and will take place...

The government is expected to approve a plan by the Ministries of Science, Energy and Environmental Protection to promote climate technologies, even though Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has already decided to dissolve the Knesset. The scope of the program, which is based on team recommendations between ministries to promote technological innovation in the field of climate, is NIS 3 billion - and it will be submitted to the government for approval on Sunday. The budget of the program comes from the budgets of the offices involved. The work of the headquarters is an initiative of the...

The IAI Board of Directors (IAI) approved a huge dividend of NIS 655 million for the country - the highest in the company's history. It should be noted that the dividend is distributed from the balance of the company's dividend payable, which stands at $ 398 million - approximately NIS 1.4 billion. In 2019, IAI distributed a dividend of NIS 140 million, and since then it has improved its results.

The emergency discussion on the issue of raising the price of bread ended without decisions. At the beginning of the debate, which took place on Sunday at the initiative of Prime Minister Yair Lapid, he announced that the purpose of the debate is "a complete halt to the rise in the price of uniform bread." During the discussion, a number of economic and legislative proposals were raised on how to reach agreements. Prime Minister Lapid ordered the head of the budget department in the Ministry of Finance to return within three days for another discussion, with the formulation of the best way...

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced on Thursday that she intends to restrict the work of Ukrainian refugees in 17 cities across the country starting August 1. This restriction is in accordance with the new procedure of the Population Authority regarding the employment of asylum seekers, which was published in Haaretz a month ago. Shaked's announcement comes against the background of the High Court's decision to allow the entry of Ukrainian citizens

The accumulated surplus in the last 12 months in the state budget reached 10 billion shekels in July, and the rate of surplus in the state budget in relation to the GDP reached 0.6% of the domestic GDP - this was announced by the Economic Accountant Division of the Ministry of Finance. The surplus in the budget, for the second month in a row, is due to an increase of more than 20% in the state's revenues from the beginning of the year, compared to the corresponding period in 2021, to NIS 280 billion. The chief economist at the Ministry of Finance recently re-evaluated the state's revenue...

The unemployment rate in Israel increased slightly in July, but it is still low: from the data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), it appears that the narrow unemployment rate increased in July to 3.7%, which is 159.5 thousand people, compared to a rate of 3.4% measured in June, which is 146.5 A thousand job seekers. Meanwhile, the employment rate also decreased, from 61.2% in the previous month to 60.9%, which is 4,195,800 employed. However, the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate are still lower than on the eve of the Corona crisis at the beginning of 2020

Less than two weeks before the start of school, negotiations between the Ministry of Education and the Teachers' Union, which represents elementary and middle school teachers, are still stuck. Both sides are intensifying the tone towards September 1, and the pressure in the corridors of government is increasing in an attempt to prevent a strike - certainly during an election period. Now the Ministry of Finance presents another offer for teachers, the third in number. In the core controversial issues—mainly the starting salary of teachers—the Treasury did not improve its proposal. The...