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“I am standing here with three former Finance ministers from Likud governments, counting myself that makes four, said Netanyahu as he began the press conference where the Likud presented its financial plan for coping with the economic crisis. “These are people who have proven ability and they have a record of achievement. Seated beside Benjamin Netanyahu were Yaakov Ne’eman, Dan Meridor, and Silvan Shalom who served as finance ministers in past Likud government. “The Finance Ministry portfolio will stay with the  Likud after the  elections”, said Netanyahu, “and so will Education, and that is a promise.”

“I want to show the public how we will manage things after the  elections facing an economic crisis whose dimensions the public is still unaware of.”

“Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer spoke of 50,000 workers laid off by the end of the year. In the United States yesterday, they laid off 360,000 workers in just one day.
The goal of the program that we propose is to transform the failure, to change the trend and to bring back economic growth which is the  best guarantee of saving people’s jobs.”

The crisis we are about to enter is very serious but we are facing it better prepared than other countries because the previous Likud governments enacted reforms that have improved Israel’s economic situation.”

Netanyahu obliquely criticized the present government’s handling of the situation. “The only one who properly understands the crisis and is acting to cope is Bank  of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer. He has been acting responsibly and I am thankful for every day that he is here,” said Netanyahu, “I am glad that I offered him the  job. Although Fischer is doing his job, I don’t see that Kadima has any plan. I hear from the  Labor Party which is sitting in this government that they have  a plan, but I think it is a bad one and is likely to prolong the crisis”.

“On the other hand, the plan that we propose is clear cut and suited to the  purpose of putting a brake on the downward trend and bringing about economic growth., ” said Netanyahu, and outlined the main points of his plan.

First of  all, we will handle the crisis of credit. Lowering the interest rate is the first step but it is not enough. We will work with the banks to convince them to lend money, to  extend credit. The second subject is to enact the land  reforms that we began when we were last in office which relate to land reforms that will make available lands managed by the Israel Lands Authority.
The third subject is transportation infrastructures, which we also began and the plans were frozen. Reform in the real estate market together with improved transportation will be a great incentive to investors, especially a railroad.  It is absurd that Israel in the 21st center is where the United States was in the 19th century.
The fourth subject is investing in research and development . Money for research must also be diverted to small and medium-sized business.

The fifth issue is the  reform in taxes. “I want to remind you that the first tax reform was enacted by Likud Finance Minister Moshe Nissim who believed that a person ought to keep most of what  he earns.”

“Every since the crisis began, I said that taxes must be lowered, because reducing taxes encourages a change in the downward trend. It is essential for creating places of work and restoring growth. Without this, nothing will help…We will lower income tax from 46% to 35% and corporate tax from 25% to 18%,”said Netanyahu.

“It is very hard to change the  economy of countries like China or India but relatively easy to do so in a small economy like Israel ,”said Netanyahu. “It is very possible that this will create a temporary deficit but we prefer that the reason for it be reduced taxes rather than increasing spending.”
“I think we have a great opportunity here. We are beginning the economic crisis here in better shape than most countries.”

After Netanyahu, Yaakov Ne’eman emphasized that the purpose of the program is first and foremost to “prevent a terrible crisis in employment.”

Dan Meridor who was Finance Minister in Netanyahu’s government said that the economy is a serious issue that requires responsible management in the face of the crisis.
“The economics books do not give a clear-cut solution to this crisis because there has never been one like it, in the last 80 year sand so there is no escape from having some deficit. The Jews in the US and Europe are also in crisis and if we stabilize the  economy, we can bring a great wave of aliyah to Israel,”  said Meridor. Netanyahu added: “And to bring back Israelis who have left”.

“We are here to tell you what we will be doing in the  next 4 years. We have to handle not only the long-term but also the short term and what’s in between. We have to allow small businesses to stay alive and our goal is to provide exactly whatever will allow the small and medium-sized business to survive, in order to create the conditions  for growth.”