30.03.2026 06:41
The Israeli Parliament approved the 2026 budget, allocating 142 billion Israeli shekels (45.3 billion US dollars). This is recorded as the largest budget in Israeli history, while opposition leader Yair Lapid described the budget as "the largest theft in the history of the state."
The Israeli Parliament (Knesset) approved the 2026 budget, which allocates 142 billion Israeli shekels (45.3 billion US dollars) for the Ministry of Defense expenditures.
THE LARGEST BUDGET IN HISTORY
According to a report by The Times of Israel, the 2026 budget approved in the general assembly of the Israeli Parliament became the largest budget in Israeli history.
The 2026 budget, which allocates 45.3 billion dollars for the Israeli Ministry of Defense, also includes 22 billion Israeli shekels (approximately 7 billion US dollars) for income-dependent expenditures and 82.2 billion Israeli shekels (26.3 billion US dollars) for long-term spending commitments.
"THE LARGEST THEFT IN STATE HISTORY"
The controversial budget amounting to 850.6 billion Israeli shekels (approximately 271 billion US dollars), which the leader of the main opposition in Israel, Yair Lapid, described as "the largest theft in state history," was approved in the 120-seat Israeli Parliament with 62 votes in favor and 55 against.
The budget vote was approached under threats from the coalition partner of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish (Haredi) parties, not to approve the budget due to the failure to pass the law exempting Yeshiva students from military service.
THE POSSIBILITY OF EARLY ELECTIONS HAS BEEN PUT ASIDE
According to Israeli laws, failure to approve the budget by the end of March leads to the fall of the government and the calling of early elections within three months. With the approval of the budget, the Netanyahu government has also postponed the possibility of early elections in the shadow of attacks on Iran.
"THEY WERE CAUGHT UNPREPARED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S SECRET PLAN"
Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that 790 million shekels (approximately 252 million US dollars) were allocated to Yeshiva and Haredi institutions in the budget, and this was done "as if goods were being smuggled out in a midnight fire."
The report noted that the opposition was caught unprepared by the government's secret plan, and it was recalled that this fund, transferred to the Haredim, had previously been frozen by the Israeli Attorney General.