JERUSALEM — A government committee created during the summer in response to the massive social protests that swept through Israel delivered its much-anticipated report Monday, calling for tax hikes on the rich to pay for an increase in public funding for low-income housing, education and welfare.

The panel, chaired by Tel Aviv University economics professor Manuel Trajtenberg, submitted its recommendations to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised the committee for achieving “the impossible.” Netanyahu said the recommendations would “fix the distortions in the economy.”

The $8 billion plan includes massive new apartment construction, expanded free education for toddlers, price reductions on some food items and reduced taxes on imports. The programs would be paid for through higher taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, and through cuts in defense spending.

Implementation of such reforms remains a long way off. The recommendations will be forwarded to the Cabinet for review and, if approved, sent to the Knesset.

Leaders of the protest movement that electrified Israel during the summer immediately dismissed the report as inadequate. Though protesters dismantled their tent cities earlier this month, they have vowed to remain active in pushing for social reforms.

“This is not a far-reaching change,” protest leader Daphne Leef told reporters. “It seems this committee has borne no fruit, not even the little we hoped to be surprised with.”

Movement leaders said they would unveil their own plan today.

To pay for the changes, the panel called for raising the capital gains tax from 20 percent to 25 percent. Other new taxes would be levied against those earning high salaries or receiving stock options.

A middle-class tax cut that was supposed to take effect soon would be canceled under the plan.

 

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