Nehemia Shtrasler

One of them is Manuel Trajtenberg, who headed the government-sponsored panel on economic policy following the cost-of-living protests of 2011 and is currently head of the Council for Higher Education’s planning and budgeting committee.

Netanyahu's decision to part with finance minister is the strangest thing that's happened during coalition negotiations thus far, for what is politics if not the question of who to take money from and who to distribute it to?

The need to repair the Bank of Israel building is not new. It’s been on the bank’s agenda since 2008

The appointment of Moshe Kahlon as chairman of the Israel Lands Committee is a blatantly political move that will mean nothing as soon as the election is over.

With a budget deficit of NIS 39 billion in 2012 and an expected cut of NIS 14 billion in 2013, Haaretz's Nehemia Shtrasler says it's time for Israel's leaders to disclose their fiscal plan.

Don't feel too bad for those 'impoverished' public sector employees. The vast majority are not as poor as the stats would have you believe.

The nightmarish lives of ordinary Cubans vividly reveal the flaws of the Communist fantasy.

Subsidizing bread means paying the bakeries from the state budget. It sounds simple but it's the worst possible solution, from both economic and social aspects.

The root cause of the need to hike taxes and slash at the budget cuts isn't the global malaise, it's local irresponsibility.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz will present a plan to the cabinet Monday to slash the 2012 budget.

There is no responsibility in this move, but rather a cynical step that threatens stability and announces the start of the election year.

Yuval Steinitz is no longer the right person for the job. A replacement is needed who is not dependent on the PM and stands firm against the Knesset.

Netanyahu and Mofaz will have no choice but to present an unpopular plan including cutbacks because, as things are, the potential budget deficit in 2013 is a big and frightening thing.

What is left of Netanyahu’s promise to reform the building permit process? Not much.

Electricity prices are high, due to the absence of Egyptian gas. Why will they continue to climb?

Steinitz heatedly explained the reasons why tax on gasoline should not be lowered, and what happened? Netanyahu decided to play people's favorite and lowered the gas tax by 15 agorot per liter.

Israel's daylight saving time is the shortest in the world.

Israel is more or less in the middle of the Western world's poverty list, not at the top.

The first announcement from the Histadrut union listing the people who had participated in overnight negotiations over a possible railways strike, did not include the name of Israel Railways trade union chairwoman, Gila Edrey.

Netanyahu sides with Likud Knesset members and party activists, and announces the cut shortly before 8 P.M. on Wednesday night.

Railway workers are afraid that the Canadians will show them up when they begin working on the new coaches with standards of professionalism and safety that the Israeli workers do not have.

Haim Katz, chair of the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee, made Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz a laughingstock - he sponsored a bill to keep the retirement age at 62.

Why the greens are foolish for arguing against a hotel in Timna.

To convince us that it’s impossible to make cuts in the fat and inflated IDF budget, Barak is using the familiar method of scaring people.

By being so inflexible about work security for public-sector employees the Histadrut effectively forced administrators to achieve flexibility by bypassing the unions and hiring workers through contractors.