Page 6-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, February 9, 1989
World-National
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The Jewish Quiz
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JERUSALEM (JTA) -Finance Minister Shimon Peres has presented a . $30 billion budget to the Knesset. It reflectis the country's economic woes and means belt-tightening for most Israelis.
The budget is for the new fiscal year, which begins April 1. About 40% is earmarked to service foreign debts. Another 22% is for the military and police, leaving 38% for every other government activity aind obligation. Real wages are expect-
ed to decline and some 4,000 civil servants, abmit 10% of the government work force, will be laid off.
Peres said his goal is to bring inflation down to "European levels," as quickly as possible, by a closer linkage of wages to productivity, spending restraints and structural changes.
He said top priority would go toward increas-itig exports He warned that excessive price increases would cancel out the recent devaluation of
the shekel, which was intended to make Israeli products less expensive abroad.
The devaluation has accelerated inflation, whkh is running at about 18%, higher than last year.
Bu|t Bank of Israel and Treasury economists believe if the planned spending cuts are implemented, inflatioti will be down to single digit by June or July.
As in past years, the new budget is designed to re-duce.govemment costs by giving the public fewer services. While imposing new fees or increasing old ones.
role Opposed
TEL AVIV (JTA)-
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has privately expressed reservations over the proposal to appoint Soviet Jewry activist Natan Sharansky to be Israel's ambassador to the Unjted Nations, informed sources here said last week.
While he adrhires the former Prisoner of Conscience, Shamir is concerned that naming him to the highly visible UN,post might be perceived in Moscow as a needless provocation at a .time when Soviet-Israeli i"ela-tions seem to be wanning, the sources said; - '
■The idea originated with . Deputy Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was Israel -s UN envoy before he quit la.st year to run for the Knes.sei..
Shamir is said to regret its premature disclosure to the news ttiedia. h will be hard now to hack away from the appointment without causing Sharansky some embarrassment.
Officials here said Shamii" will try to have the proposal quietly shelved. In doing so, he is likely to have the cooperation of his coa-I it ion partner, Vice-Premier Shimon Peres, without who.se consent the appointment could not be made.
Many members of Peres ■ Labor Party have voiced opposition to Sharansky as head ofIsrael'sUNdelega-, tiori. They have cited, among othei- things, his hostility toward the Soviet system and butspoken skepticism pf President MikhailGprbachev's liberal measures.
JERUSALEM (JPFS) —
Deputy Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last week instructed Israel's ambassador to Holland to refuse to host Abba Eban at a dinner at his house because of Eban's participation in a conference in The H^gue \yith PLO officials.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister MosheArens said Netanyahu's decision had Ihe full backing of the minister. The spokesman said the decision was prompted by the fact that Eban ignored the recommendation of both the embassy and the foreign ministry hot to participate in.the conference.
The spokesman said the foreign ministry is not boy^ cotting Eban, aind would be happy to host the former foreign minister in any other context The instruction to Ambassador Ze 'ev Siifot, they said, was made ; so there would be ho room for speculation that the foreign niinistry was giving its seal of approval to any sort of meetings with officials of the PLO.
Netanyahu's decision
raised a howl of protest. .
The conference "wasn't a wild thing," Eban told Israel Television Saturday night. "It took place with the full support and backing of the government of the Netherlands and the : University of Amsterdam. It was very discourteous for Mr. Netanyahu to tell the Dutch What they should or should not do, what sort. of-meetings they should have.".- ■:'
He added that he had al-■ ways trained Israeli dijplo-mats to regard Israeli embassies as more than the property of the foreign ministry; they represented and should be open to Israelis of all points of view.
Sources close to Netanyahu claimed, oh the other hand, that reliable information indicated that Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van den Broek was finally persuaded to take part in the conference with the PLO only after hearing that Eban had decided to participate in it. \1
Eban responded, ''If that's so, it's a great compliment."
In the coming year, Israelis will face higher education costs, fare increases on public transportation, higher water bills, a new tax on large cars, higher national insurance premiums and an increase in the cost of hospital ization.
The success of the new budget will depend in large measure on the extent of cooperation between the government and Histadrut, Israel's all-embracing trade union federiation.
Outstanding issues include cost-of-living allowance to workers for past and future price in-, creases, which are still un-
der negotiation.
Histadrut leaders have threaitened to campaign against the austeirity budget if such issues are not resolved.
But with unemployment running at 7.5% and His-tadrut-owned industries in dire financial straits, their hands seem to be tied.
Peres is also likely to run into trouble with right-wingers because his budget provides no funding for the eight new settlements in the territories, agreed to by the Likud-Labor coalition when it was formed last month.
QUESTIONS:
1. What is the Hebrew name of the 12ih month of the Jewish religious year?
2. Because of the festive character of the entire month what is the special rabbinic dictum (Taanit 29a)?
3. What is the anniversary of both the birth and death of Moses?
ANSWERS:
1. Adar.
2. "When Adar Edmond Y. Lipsitz comes in, joy increases."
3. 7th of Adar.
■ * ■ ,*' ♦ These questions and answers came from the book 6400 Questions About Judaism and the Jewish People by Edmond Y. Lipsitz, published by JESL Educational Products.
COIiVINCED THERE WAS NO FINER
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MOTOR MAGAZINE (BRITAIN)
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Judicious refinements to an
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