10 Friday, January 4, 1985 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS NEWS rtr ..,?; The Economic conference BLIND SPOT Continued from Page 1 50%-70% OFF ALL NAME BRANDS • Vertical Blinds • Levolor Blinds • Pleated Shades • Wood Blinds Free Professional Measure at No Obligation Free in Home Design Consulting THE BLIND SPOT The C'ongress Building 30555 Southfield Rd. Suite 255 Southfield, Michigan 48076 Showroom by Appointment 644-1001 Your office or home can be complete immediately" VISIT_ OUR NEW SHOWROOM! In Stock - Unbelievable prices on new and used furniture: • • • • • DIRECTIONAL LAZYBOY PATRICIAN CHROMCRAFT & MORE SAVINGS ON OFFICE AND JANITORIAL SUPPLIES cc w >- w 2 GALAXIE COO L IDGE WYO MIN G EIGHT M ILE S E —I—W N NORTHEND CAPITAL 10600 Galaxie Ferndale, Michigan 48220 399-9830 ministers for failure to imple- ment urgently-needed budget cuts. Senior Treasury officials attending the meeting told the Cabinet that of the $1.375 bil- lion the government has al- ready agreed to slash from the national budget only $150 mil- lion has actually been cut. But budget cuts are strongly opposed by some. Moshe Kat- zav, the Minister of Labor and Welfare, attacked the idea of further retrenchment. "One cannot see in the cuts the solu- tion to all problems," he said, adding, "We have reached the end of our tether." Modai's Likud colleague, Deputy Premier and Housing Minister David Levy, criticized Modai for not pre- senting a comprehensive eco- nomic plan. It was inferred from Premier Shimon Peres' remarks at the session that the government indeed had no solid economic plan when it approached the United States for $4.85 billion in economic assistance for fiscal year 1986, nearly double the sum Israel is receiving in fiscal 1985. Peres said negotiations with the United States would be re- sumed only after the govern- ment has a comprehensive economic program to present. Secretary of State George Shultz made this clear in his letter to Peres two weeks ago. He said he could not support, nor would the Reagan Ad- ministration consider, Israel's request unless the Israeli gov- ernment showed that it had and was ready to implement a severe economic austerity program. Last week, Peres defended Shultz' letter and called him one of Israel's best friends in Washington. The letter had drawn a sharp response from Gad Yaacobi, Minister of Econom- ics and Planning, who said the Israel government knows what has to be done and does not need "lecturing." Peres, however, defended Shultz. His advice, he said, was "truly that of a friend, without pressure or insults." The Premier added that it was natural and proper for Washington to carefully crutinize Israel's economic plans when it was being asked for increased aid. He said Shultz' letter was not critical but in fact praised the "gen- eral direction" of the Israel government's economic policies. He simply urged greater urgency and determi- nation to implement those policies, Peres said. The Finance Ministry was reported to be working on a one-year wage-price stabiliza- tion plan to take effect when the three-month wage-price freeze ends this month. Some elements of the plan, leaked to the media, indicated that the Ministry seeks to hold down real wages. While workers will receive their regular monthly cost-of-living incre- ments, there will be no wage hikes during the year the plan is in effect. Peres was probably alluding to this when he said real wages would be held to their 1982 levels during a one-year re- covery plan. According to unofficial re- ports, the Finance Ministry will not impose another blan- ket freeze on the price of staple goods but would try to control and moderate price increases. Government price subsidies would continue, but at a rela- tively low level. The prices of imports are expected to soar after the current freeze ex- pires. Thereafter, they would be allowed to rise in tandem with the price of the dollar in Israeli currency. Meanwhile, the price freeze is presenting the Treasury with severe cash problems. New money has to be printed to cover the government's ex- penses to keep the prices of subsidized products stable. Some sources estimate the amount at $200 million, but the Treasury first must find ways to absorb money from the public. It has pending about a dozen fiscal bills that could realize up to $600 million. But these have been stalled by opposi- tion from the various minis- ters concerned. Green Party trip Continued from Page 1 delegation was due to leave West Germany. Most West German news- papers failed to report that the Greens had prepared an anti- Israel strategy paper before the delegation began its trip. Nor did most publications re- port that the Israel ambas- sador to West Germany had labeled the paper anti- Semitic. Most of the press also ig- nored the fact that the Greens had • failed to contact the Is- raeli embassy in Bonn or the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem before they were forced to do so when the strategy paper was published