The election results have created a historic opportunity to rebuild and improve the Israeli economy. Israel has four parties Likud-Beytenu, Yesh Atid, Habayit Hayehudi and Hatnuah who are all committed to the fundamental principles of a free market and understand the importance of the commercial sector to the country's future. Perhaps I should emphasize that the entire country leans on the commercial sector. It creates the gross national product, state revenue and employment. But the outgoing Knesset failed to understand the central importance of this sector for Israel. True economic growth is not necessarily dependent only on the high-tech industry, but rather the motivation of the 2 million Israelis who own businesses of all sizes. There are more than 480,000 businesses in Israel, no fewer than 450,000 of which are small and medium-sized businesses. The motivation of these business owners, who invest their money, risk their savings and put in years of work, is the most important growth engine of the economy. Over the last decade, the Israeli business sector has proved its resilience and its high development capabilities. While the population grew by only 18 percent, the number of employees in the commercial sector increased by 20% and commercial output increased by no less than 53%. The commercial sector in Israel has not even yet fulfilled its potential. Gross domestic product is still $28,000 per capita per year, compared with an average of $35,000 among OECD countries. With proper policy, Israel could increase its total GDP by NIS 200 billion ($53.7 billion), though this would require a total commitment to increasing participation in the labor force from today's 64.4% to 76% over the next five years. If we can stop any of the recently conceived trends against the business sector, such as the criminalization of commercial management, the flood of labor laws none of which relate to employees' duties or employers' rights, and the erosion of basic employers' rights (such as the right to property, freedom of contract, freedom to design employment structure and to adapt to changing market conditions), the commercial sector would grow at a higher rate than in the past. These elections mark an opportunity. It's time to build a solid infrastructure for commercial sector growth by passing a Basic Law on employers rights. We need to understand the necessity to limit the powers of national labor courts, which strike the commercial sector with extreme verdicts. The election results leave us with enough parties that can identify with the need to strengthen the commercial sector, including the creation of equality and fairness in sharing the burden as well as a means of increasing participation in the labor force. This is an enormous opportunity. Let's hope it won't be missed.
