Israeli Government Approves Additional NIS 1 Billion for Urgent Classified Defense Procurement

The Israeli government is set to approve an additional allocation of one billion shekels to the Ministry of Defense for urgent and classified defense procurement in 2026. Of this amount, 850 million shekels will be reallocated from the unused budget of the Ministry of Economy and Industry, originally intended to promote investments in the technology sector, while the remaining 150 million shekels will come from reserved funds from previous government decisions that were not allocated.

About three months ago, the Ministry of Defense announced that the Cabinet Committee approved the purchase of two new fighter squadrons of F-35 aircraft from Lockheed Martin and one squadron of F-15IA fighters from Boeing. The total value of these deals is estimated in the tens of billions of shekels and includes the integration of the squadrons into the Air Force, comprehensive support, spare parts, and logistics.

Additionally, following repeated delays in the Cabinet Committee on Procurement discussions, the committee recently approved the Ministry of Defense's plan to significantly accelerate the production of the Arrow missile interceptors by Israel Aerospace Industries on a large scale. This move aims to enhance Israel's missile defense capabilities amid growing regional threats.