Finance Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday presented Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with his outline for the 2013-2014 budgets, which included billions of shekels worth of cuts on social rights and new taxes. Though the budget plan was not made public, it reportedly included sharp cuts in child allowances, government wages and plus a 1% increase in value added tax.

On the new budget Hadash MK Dov Henin said: “I am completely against placing the heavy burden on the worn down the working class and on the disadvantaged groups who are on welfare.” He added that while he was “in favor of taking money from those who have plenty: from the capitalists, from the tycoons controlling the natural resources, from the banks that continue breaking profit records and from the wealthy who own luxurious villas and expensive vehicles. The big money Lapid is looking for is in tax exemptions enjoyed by a handful of huge companies and the aggressive tax planning of tycoons and capitalists.”