be taken to reduce housing prices. Recommendations The committee's recommendations were published in September 2011. The recommendations were perceived to be good for the "hard-working middle classes". They included a slower increase for the defence budget. They were first discussed by the Israeli Cabinet a few days later. Implementation and Knesset approval Netanyahu initially promised to push the committee's recommendations through the cabinet in one piece, but there were differences inside the governing coalition and a different approach of gradual implementation was eventually adopted. In December 2011 the Knesset approved a series of amendments to Israel's tax law. These included an increase in the capital gains tax rate from 20% to 25%. As part of measures to solve the country's housing shortage, the Trajtenberg recommendations included a plan to sell land at a discount to build 5,000 units of affordable housing. The homes would be sold through the existing Mehir Lemishtaken program to people deemed eligible for affordable housing at a discount to market prices. The Trajtenberg committee had recommended mandating that in the case of families, both parents be working. The Shas party objected to this, since it would make Haredi families less likely to qualify. Housing minister Ariel Atias (Shas) proposed criteria that would favour Haredi applicants; this was opposed by Prof. Trajtenberg himself, who said that Atias' criteria had nothing to do with social justice. A housing plan approved by the cabinet in March 2012 included sanctions against developers that delay construction, higher municipal taxes on unoccupied homes and measures to increase the housing supply in Arab communities. The competition portion was approved by the cabinet in December 2011. The measures will reinforce the mandate of the anti-trust commissioner, subject the diesel and home gas markets to supervision, increase competition in the cement market, open Israeli ports up to competition, with private terminals opened in Haifa and Ashdod, and reinforce competition in the marketing of eggs, cheese and milk. The portion of the recommendations for increasing employment were due to be brought to the cabinet for approval in February 2012. They included proposals to increase employment among Arab citizens of Israel, particularly among Arab women, as well as proposals for integrating disabled citizens into the workforce. The plan also called for improving labor law enforcement and assisting single mothers. Other measures aimed to limit foreign workers, creating a mechanism for encouraging them to leave, mandating that employers