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Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the Cabinet is scheduled to approve the war budget for 2024 next Thursday, after the ministers approved financial support worth 9 billion shekels ($2.5 billion) for reservists.
Smotrich added – today – in a joint statement with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu And the Minister of Defense Yoav Galant “Reservists and their families are a priority for the State of Israel, and they are the pillar of the 2024 budget that we will present at the end of this week.”
Israel had approved last year, before the start of the aggression against Ali Gaza strip budget for 2023 and 2024, but the war on Gaza has severely damaged the government’s public finances, requiring budget adjustments and additional spending.
And he agreed The Knesset The Israeli Parliament – last month – approved a special war budget for the year 2023 worth 30 billion shekels ($8.33 billion) to help finance the war and compensate those affected by Operation “Al-Aqsa floodlaunched by the Palestinian resistance led by Al-Qassam Brigades The military arm of the movement (agitation) on October 7th.
Smotrich’s spokesman said a budget vote was likely to be held on Thursday, but did not provide further details.
The Finance Ministry said the war would likely cost at least another 50 billion shekels ($14 billion) in 2024 and would nearly triple its budget deficit to about 6% of gross domestic product if the fighting continued until next February.
Opposition position
Two days ago, the professional staff at the Ministry of Finance proposed closing 10 unnecessary ministerial offices, while Smotrich expressed his opposition to the proposal.
And then the opposition leader renewed Yair Lapid The demand to transfer the budgets of the government coalition agreements, included in the 2024 budget, to cover war expenses, including the establishment of a special fund at a cost of 10 billion shekels to compensate the reserve forces, which was proposed by opposition leader Yair Lapid.
In light of the war on Gaza, the economic crisis, and the stagnation in the labor market, the 37th government of Israel, consisting of 31 ministries, faces many internal challenges, whether social, political, or economic. The coalition government consists of 6 parties: Likud, “Torah Judaism,” and “Shas.” “,” “Religious Zionism,” “Jewish Greatness,” and “Noam.”
