Israel approves tax cuts

JERUSALEM, June 29 (UPI) -- Israel's Knesset approved the second and third readings Tuesday of a bill that will reduce taxes for lower and middle-bracket Israeli wage earners.

The Ha'aretz news service reported Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset that during the first half of 2004 there was an 11 percent increase in tax revenue, compared with the same period last year.

"The right policy from a social and economic perspective is to reduce as much as possible government expenditures and to transfer the profits to the public via the reduction of taxes," he said.

The reduction of taxes will aid economic growth, he added.