This policy study summarizes the topics discussed at the Sixth Budget Conference of the Economics and Society Program, in June 2015:

Its first part surveys the social situation in Israel using a new index created by the Economics and Society Program at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute;

The second part describes the developments in taxation, with an emphasis on the changes in the past decade in the progressivity of the taxation system in Israel;

The third part surveys tax benefits for retirement savings that are granted at the time of the deposit;

The fourth part analyzes the state budget for 2015 and 2016, describes the situation as the budget debate was about to begin, and summarizes the decisions made.

The study shows that a change is needed in the model for funding the government in the future. In particular, the taxation policy and the overall expenditure for civilian needs must be adapted to the proposed model. These and other topics were discussed in the concluding session of the conference by a panel that included senior officials from the public sector and politicians active in economic matters. The panel’s discussion appears in the fifth, concluding, part of the study.

The entire conference is accessible online

A PDF file of the booklet may be downloaded or the print version may be ordered (cost for mailing: NIS 10).