Lapid's new objective: helping the fictional 'Mrs. Cohen'

Moments before the Finance Ministry's full attention refocuses on preparing the national budget on Tuesday, Finance Minister Yair Lapid opted to deliver another message to the Israeli public on Monday, directed mainly at the sector that gave him his smashing elections victory — the Israeli middle class.

"This is a difficult time, and in order to remedy a deficit of over 30 billion shekels, some difficult decisions must be made," Lapid wrote Monday on his Facebook page, the central medium he uses to communicate with his constituents these days. "The middle class is no longer the country's ATM. I refuse to allow Israel to turn into Greece or Cyprus on my watch."

In efforts to prepare the public for the possibility of painful budget cuts and tax hikes to cover the ballooning deficit, Lapid invented a new representative character, to replace the traditional "Masuda of Sderot" (who represents the average low-income Israeli). "We held a meeting to think of plans and reforms that would help Mrs. Cohen of Hadera make ends meet," Lapid wrote. "Middle class is Ricky Cohen of Hadera."

"We are talking about balancing the budget, but our job is not to balance spreadsheets. Our job is to help Mrs. Cohen," he wrote.

So who is Mrs. Cohen? Lapid himself provided the answer: "Mrs. Cohen is 37 years old, she is a high-school teacher and her husband works in high-tech. Both of them are salaried employees who, together, earn just over 20,000 shekels ($5,500) per month. It is thanks to people like Mrs. Cohen that this country exists. She represents the middle class. It is for her that I decided to become finance minister."

Meanwhile, Lapid is expected to present his planned austerity package to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week. The finance minister is also planning to meet with Histadrut labor federation Chairman Ofer Eini to try to iron out preliminary understandings on key budget issues, in efforts to avoid any Histadrut strikes.

Lapid's Facebook message garnered the support of the Israel Electric Company on Monday. "Congratulations to the minister for lifting the veil of hypocrisy from the government view that the middle class are those who found themselves under the poverty line," the electric company's workers' committee wrote in a statement.

'Far more women earn only 5,000 shekels per month'

In contrast, the opposition rushed to criticize Lapid's message. "His (Facebook) post was condescending and disconnected. People who earn 20,000 shekels are in the second highest decile," Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On said.

MK Isaac (Buji) Herzog (Labor) added that "there are far more women who earn only 5,000 shekels [$1,400] per month."

In response to Lapid's post, most Facebook users pointed out that the average wage in Israel is currently around 9,000 shekels ($2,500) per month and that the average middle class family earns a collective 6,750 to 11,250 shekels per month. Therefore, the Ricky Cohen model does not represent the middle class, they said.

Mali Ram wrote that "outside of central Israel, there nearly aren't any couples who earn 20,000 shekels — try to be a little more realistic." Another Facebook user named Daniel, wrote that "if I had 20,000 shekels I would live like a queen. I am even willing to live on 15,000 shekels — if only that were an option in this country."

Asher Albo, currently on vacation in Italy, wrote "Yair Lapid, hello. I am writing to you from my vacation in Italy — the biannual family vacation you talked about (in your post about Mrs. Cohen). We are exactly the family you were describing. I am a teacher at a private school and my wife is a social worker at a private company. Together we earn 20,000 shekels per month, after taxes. We have an apartment with a mortgage in central Tel Aviv and one daughter. But that shows precisely how out of touch you are with the middle class that you claim to want to help. We are not middle class, we are considered in the second highest decile. We don't need your help, or your thoughts about us. We are getting along just fine without you. You need to help those who really need to be helped."

Shimon Friedman wrote to Lapid that "you did get my vote in the election, but right now I am very disappointed. I am not worried about those who earn 20,000 per month. What about those people who earn minimum wage and can't even afford to send their children to school with a lunch-"

Yifat Cohen wrote, "Dear Yair, nice to meet you, I am Mrs. Cohen. I am nearly 37 years old. My husband and I earn far less than 20,000 shekels per month (where did you get this imaginary sum-) That is not middle class, though our jobs are certainly respectable. Your Mrs. Cohen is frustrated that she can't get the money to buy apartments for her children. This Mrs. Cohen doesn't have any idea where she will get the money to buy an apartment for herself and her husband, even though she has money saved up. This Mrs. Cohen doesn’t have children yet, though she has a husband and the desire. The mere thought of the economic mess that having children in this country entails makes her shudder. This Mrs. Cohen has an academic degree, served in the IDF as an officer, and hasn't stopped working and paying taxes since the moment she was discharged from the army."

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