Cost of Living
Electricity and fuel prices
The state should cap electricity and fuel prices, even if that costs the budget billions.
Electricity rose by more than 8.6% in August 2026 and petrol passed NIS 8 a litre. The cost of living is the first concern of 34% of Israelis.
What is at stake
The cost of living is the first concern of 34% of Israelis, well ahead of security. Electricity rose more than 8.6% in August 2026, petrol passed NIS 8 a litre, and inflation is running at 4.4% a year.
The case for
- Electricity is not a free market: a public operator dominates the grid and the regulator already sets the tariff.
- A tariff rise hits low-income households proportionally harder. A cap is the fastest transfer to administer.
- Energy feeds into the price of everything else. Holding it down slows inflation upstream rather than downstream.
The case against
- A cap subsidises the villa as much as the two-room flat. Targeted support costs less and reaches further.
- The bill lands on a budget already stretched by defence at about 8% of GDP. Today's cap is tomorrow's tax.
- A frozen price discourages investment in generation and the grid, and sets up the next shortage.
Both sides get the same number of points at comparable length. That is a rule of this site, not a coincidence.
What the next Knesset could decide
The finance ministry and the Electricity Authority set tariffs; the Knesset decides subsidies in the budget law. This is an annual budget trade-off, not a one-off reform.