To introduce, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotritch's first move the other day was to order his staff to prepare the necessary things for canceling the tariffs on disposable goods and on the sugary drinks. I am not sure how much Smotritch himself cared about this issue - he didnt campaign on it specifically. The Haredi parties, both Shas and UTJ, campaigned on this incessantly regularly promising the first thing to e done in the new government would be to get these taxes canceled. If this was the first thing Smotritch had to do, it was probably mostly to placate his bedfellows. They even took credit for it - after his announcement they said we promised it would be the first thing and it is. Interestingly, UTJ and Shas made lots of promises and campaigned on issues they ended up not demanding the offices that control it, so they made promises that other people would be responsible to carry out.

So, Rav Mutsafi said, "they are so stupid, bringing the prices down. That jackass goes and brings down the taxes on sweet drinks. Idiot. We in this country are number 1 in the world in amputated limbs. From what? From diabetes... Do you know how many there are? we have passed the 1 million mark of people with diabetes. More than 10 percent of the population has diabetes, and that is just the ones we know about. There is also a silent disease among those that havent discovered it yet. What is this from? from eating sugar, drinking sugar, drinking sweet, eating sweet, sweet sweet sweet. It is also fattening and also causes horrible diseases, diabetes is a horrible plague. And this idiot, fine the disposables I understand you can bring down the prices, but the sweet drinks need to be brought down the first thing?!"

As right as he is, and at the end of the day it is Smotritch who gave orders to cancel the tariff, it is the party he supported, and their sister party, that made it a major campaign issue. Where was he back then when he could have reigned them in and told them to stop making that into such an important issue? Now he is upset that the promise his own people made and frequently repeated is being fulfilled?