ISRAEL'S
CHANGING ECONOMY
Will The Model Be America Or Albania?
t i?hi! V j!ish News
F j pe!iEl
E
erusalem — The sound and fury that
followed the unveiling of the Israeli
government's proposed economic
reform package is symptomatic of far
more than simple political horse-trading.
The program, as envisioned by Finance
Minister Moshe Nissim, represents noth-
ing less than an economic revolution,
with far-reaching implications for the
future shape of Israeli society.
The debate, like all good budgetary
debates, is as much about political
philosophy as it is about economics. But
it is a debate that transcends the estab-
lished party boundaries.
Will — can — Israel remain a country
dedicated to the ideals of socialist
egalitarianism and government control
over almost everything that matters?
The crucial debate is
shaping up as a
battle between those
who want to hold
onto the Jewish
state's socialist
system and those
who want to open it
up to entrepreneurs.