Cash for clunkers, the Israeli version
Israel begins first phase of a plan to remove gas-guzzlers from country's roads by paying owners for them.
By Lior Dattel Tags: Israel news Israel environmentThe Environmental Protection Ministry this weekend began the first phase of its plan to get old gas-guzzlers off the country's roads by paying the owners for their wrecks. The first car-composting lot opened in Ashdod on Friday; new sites are planned to open across the country over the next few months.
Anyone who turns in a vehicle over 20 years old - after verifying ownership at the Licensing Department, of course - will be given NIS 3,000 in exchange.
Over five years NIS 100 million is to be allocated to the program jointly sponsored by the ministries of transportation and of environmental protection - a program based on Cash for Clunkers, initiated in the United States by President Barack Obama. The American program, whose name has been changed to the rather less catchy Car Allowance Rebate System, proved enormously popular. Owners received $4,500 each for their heaps of steel. More than 700,000 new vehicles were sold as part of the program, which a number of other countries have also adopted.
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan expects the program to rid the streets of thousands of fuel-inefficient, polluting and unsafe older vehicles each year.
"The orderly removal of these vehicles from the road will reduce the air pollution in cities, reduce the number of old cars abandoned in cities and at the side of the road, and increase the recycling of raw materials used to build vehicles," Erdan said.
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Israel vs USA: $800 vs $4500 new car - $35000 vs $19000 80% of the money will be spent (stolen by) on bureaucracy and people will scam by turning some undriveable tarantot over and over again. It was a huge counter productive waste in States. It will be a criminal super combina in Israel.
is going to profit on this heavily but have no idea the deals Erdan is really making.
3ooo NIS instead of $4,500, and only for cars over 20 (!) years old. What sort of newer, better cars are these people supposed to buy with their 3000 NIS? Pathetic!!! Looks to me like some politician is making nice to junkyard owners, on the taxpayer's dime.
Maybe if we didn't have a minimum 100% tax rate on cars (they're ALL imports, duh,) we wouldn't have so many clunkers on the road in the first place, and the government wouldn't have to allocate 100 million for this? Or are we still trying to protect the fragile Israeli automotive industry? Sussita, anyone?
Yes it was a big joke in the United States and all it did was hurt those who couldn't afford a automobile. Don't people in Israel think Cash for Clunkers sounds like they copy America.