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Israel's Finance Ministry Plans Budget Cuts for Defense Funding
The Israeli Ministry of Finance is preparing to implement sweeping budget cuts across government ministries shortly before the upcoming elections. This rare and legally restricted move is designed to secure billions of shekels for urgent defense needs and military procurement. Under Israeli law, such pre-election cuts are permissible only to address urgent, non-deferrable security requirements.
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What happened
- 01The Ministry of Finance plans broad budget cuts across government ministries before the elections to fund urgent defense needs.
- 02The proposed cuts are legally restricted and permissible only for urgent, non-deferrable security requirements.
- 03The funding is expected to finance a stalled $1 billion deal to purchase 12 advanced Apache combat helicopters.
- 04The Apache helicopter deal was previously blocked due to a dispute over a $288 million funding source.
- 05Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously faced opposition when attempting to increase the defense budget by tens of billions of shekels.
- 06Israel's defense budget has tripled since the start of the war, recently reaching an approved NIS 143 billion.
While the exact scale of the cuts and the specific security needs remain undisclosed, the funding is expected to revive a stalled $1 billion deal to purchase 12 advanced Apache combat helicopters. The transaction had previously been blocked due to a dispute over a $288 million funding source for the 2027 budget, which led to the cancellation of the order. The proposed cuts suggest that a budgetary source for either 2026 or 2027 has now been identified.
This development follows efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to significantly increase defense spending, which faced opposition in the Knesset. Since the start of the war, Israel's defense budget has tripled, recently reaching an approved NIS 143 billion, as the government seeks to secure a NIS 400 billion military buildup plan for the coming years.
Summarized by baba from the reports of 3 newsrooms. Updated
Latest report: Globes. Read Globes’s originalThe coverage
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