Israeli Government Approves Budget Cuts for Defense Procurement
Translated & summarized from TheMarker by baba
The Israeli government approved a 4.9% budget cut for 2026, amounting to 2.6 billion shekels, to fund urgent defense procurement. This follows a previous cut of 1.03 billion shekels for the same purpose. Several ministries, including Education, Transportation, and Health, will see significant reductions. The cuts were agreed upon by the Knesset Finance Committee, with bipartisan support, and come after a recent 15 billion shekel increase to the defense budget.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- The Israeli government approved a 2.6 billion shekel budget cut for 2026 to fund defense procurement.
- The cut represents an additional 4.9% reduction across various government budgets.
- The Ministry of Transportation will lose 423 million shekels, and the Ministry of Education 354 million shekels.
- Requests for exemptions by the Welfare and Health ministries were denied.
- This decision follows a recent 1.03 billion shekel cut for defense procurement.
- The cuts were approved by the Knesset Finance Committee with coalition and opposition agreement.
The Israeli government has approved an additional 4.9% cross-the-board budget cut for 2026, totaling 2.6 billion shekels, to fund urgent defense procurement. This decision comes just a week after a 1.03 billion shekel cut was approved for the same purpose from funds allocated for Arab society development between 2027 and 2029. The latest cuts will impact several ministries, with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education losing 354 million shekels, the Ministry of Transportation 423 million shekels, and the Ministry for National Security 224 million shekels. The Ministry of Welfare and Social Services will be reduced by 138 million shekels, and the Ministry of Health by 109 million shekels, after their requests for exemption were denied. The cross-the-board cut was previously approved by the Knesset Finance Committee, with agreement from both the coalition and opposition. This follows a decision last month by the government and the committee to add approximately 15 billion shekels to the defense budget.
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