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Eyes roll in Tel Aviv at Netanyahu's one-man band

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quick to appropriate the achievements of his ministers, and the habit has become a running joke in political circles.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a ceremony in which Israel declared its "David's Sling" intermediate-range air defence shield fully operational, at Hatzor air base in southern Israel April 2, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX33QI6
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office published a document on April 5 detailing the achievements of various government ministries compared with the goals they set for themselves for 2016. For five years, the Israeli government has published these goals as part of its annual plans. This year, at the direction of the prime minister, data on progress toward them was also published for the first time.

Two failures made headlines. The first was the public’s low participation in “buyer’s price,” the flagship low-cost housing program of Kulanu chairman and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon that reached only 42% of the goal set by the Housing Ministry. Only 6,343 qualified people bought reduced-price homes through the program, compared to a planned 15,000. While Yoav Galant heads the Housing Ministry, the program itself is unequivocally associated with the finance minister, for better or for worse.

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