Third Home Tax Puts Strain on Coalition

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has hinted that the government coalition could fall on the issue of his proposed tax on owners of three or more homes, according to media reports.

“I don’t like much of the legislation you pass. If you start to break commitments, then I’ll do the same, and the whole business will fall apart,” Kahlon told fellow ministers, adding that he was not going to give in to demands from Likud for significant changes in the tax plan.

Meanwhile, Kahlon has been weaving a “safety net” of support for the proposal from opposition parties. Meretz leader Zehava Galon and Zionist Camp MK Shelly Yachimovich, among others, have been enlisted in the cause.

“The aim of the third home taxation plan is to free up homes and raise supply. We have already chosen: we are on the side of the young couples,” Kahlon wrote in an online posting.

“Members of the coalition will have to choose whether they support the decision that helps young couples and the middle class or whether they will join Yair Lapid in protecting the richest 0.1 percent.”