ISRAEL’S Parliament on Monday passed its annual Budget in a marathon overnight session, ensuring that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government can complete its term until the fall. Israel needed to pass a Budget before April 1 in order to avoid triggering early elections. Netanyahu still reserves the right to call early elections before then if he wants. The USD 270 billion Budget, Israel’s largest ever, included a 20 per cent increase for the Ministry of Defence due to the ongoing war against Iran. The Ministry’s budget has swollen to USD 45 billion, forcing cuts in other Government ministries. Recent opinion polls in Israel indicate that while Israelis overwhelmingly support the war, Netanyahu and his political coalition don’t appear to be benefiting.

 

Israel’s Opposition slammed the Budget for increasing funding to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox communities at a time when the country is facing soaring costs over its war in Iran and is still reeling from a two-year war in Gaza. Opposition leader Yair Lapid called it “the greatest theft in the state’s history.” “The Government of gluttony and evasion carried out a nocturnal heist,” former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is expected to challenge Netanyahu in upcoming elections, wrote on X. Opposition parties were especially furious over a last-minute amendment providing an additional USD 250 million to ultra-Orthodox schools. Anger has increased at the ultra-Orthodox community for its refusal to allow its young men to serve in the military while it is stretched to its breaking point and is in desperate need of additional soldiers. Military service is mandatory for most Jews. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the Budget for “taking care of all Israeli citizens, without exception.”