Katz, Barkat clash at Knesset over ‘return to work’ plan

Finance Minister Israel Katz clashed with fellow Likud MK Nir Barkat in an extraordinary exchange at the Knesset’s Finance Committee on Monday as the government’s NIS 6 billion proposal to encourage businesses to return employees to the workplace continues to face opposition.

As the Finance Committee discussed possible amendments to the draft legislation ahead of its second and third reading, Barkat accused Katz of not intending to listen to the committee’s proposals.

“This legislation, according to its title, intends to return workers to the market,” said Barkat. “From an evaluation that we carried out with the Finance Ministry, 10% [of workers] is all that will return.”

Describing Barkat’s comments as “nonsense,” Katz said the incentive program represents the “most efficient, quickest and most implementable” plan to return employees placed on unpaid leave to the workforce.

“After my careful consideration and evaluation, this is the right legislation, it is a continuation of other steps – all the sectors need this legislation,” said Katz.

Barkat, a vocal critic of the employer incentive plan and previously touted as finance minister-in-waiting by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, angrily responded.

“You are not even willing to listen to what we have to propose. You did not come to listen. It is not okay,” Barkat said.

According to the Finance Ministry’s plan, businesses who returned employees to the workplace between April 19 – the date when the first coronavirus restrictions were eased – and May 31 will be eligible for a NIS 3,500 grant per employee.

For every employee who returned to work after June 1, employers will receive a grant of NIS 7,500.

Business sector representatives have criticized Katz, arguing that solely providing grants to employers who brought back workers is detrimental to businesses who did not place employees on unpaid leave at all.

Barkat has previously argued that impacted businesses must be eligible for compensation without strings attached and the latest funds should be “given to Israeli citizens to encourage consumption.”

On Sunday, Finance Ministry officials informed the Finance Committee that the employer incentive program is expected to result in the return of only 80,000 additional workers to the workforce.

Nearly 308,000 people have formally reported their return to work to the Employment Service since restrictions were first eased on April 19. At the peak of the coronavirus crisis fallout, more than 1.14 million citizens or some 27.4% of the workforce were recorded as claiming unemployment benefits.