Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David sent a letter yesterday (Tuesday) to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman warning them of the consequences of rising prices in the economy and asking them to take measures against it. Israel is experiencing rising gas, fuel, and food prices in the past several weeks; as of Tuesday, electricity prices have also risen by some 5.7%.
“We must remind those who rake in profits of hundreds of millions of shekels a year, that the State of Israel is on the brink and the price for exploiting our citizens is not worth it for them,” Bar-David wrote in his letter.
The letter also sharply criticized the companies that are fueling the rising prices in the economy: “The wave of rising prices that is drowning the citizens of Israel is not inevitable. The big manufacturers are recording high profit margins, and the main reason they continue to raise prices is determined by the simple fact that they can.”
“Active measures must be taken against this kind of exploitation of the citizens of the state,” Bar-David wrote, “and swift action [from the government] must be taken against any commercial body that exploits its status to oppress the public.”
“You have both the power and the broad support from the public to not only place warning signs in front of these companies but also to shift a decisive statement on the subject into real action,” Bar-David continued.
“This is a very important struggle that we must wage now as a society and as a state. I will use all the power of the Histadrut to curb this phenomenon and we will not hesitate to take measures to protest en masse.”
In another letter addressed to the CEOs of the largest companies in the country, Bar-David warned of the consequences that price increases will have on consumers, and asked them personally to take action against the recent wave of a rise in prices.
“It cannot be that while the citizens of the country are groaning under an unprecedented economic burden, the only guiding principle that will continue to stand before the eyes of companies will be profit-making," Bar-David wrote. "After two years of deep [economic] crisis, you have a responsibility to be partners in the Israeli economy, and to remember that there will be much higher consequences for those companies that take advantage of the situation.”
This article was translated from Hebrew by Zak Newbart.
