The Finance Ministry refused a request for clarifications.
The Knesset Finance Committee today approved a NIS 700 million defense budget supplement. Although committee members asked for clarifications, a Ministry of Finance official said that details would be given to the joint subcommittee of the Knesset Finance and Foreign Affairs and Defense committees.
MK Haim Oron (Meretz) lambasted the budget supplement and voted against it. "We're talking about a budget beyond what was agreed upon in the state budget. If there are budget reserves, maybe they ought to be used for other issues, such as welfare and education."
Ministry of Defense officials said the supplement was previously promised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Minister of Defense Ehud Barak. Finance Committee members said that Defense Ministry asked for the extra money in the wake of the upheaval in Egypt, and that this was why Netanyahu was delaying a decision to cut the excise on gasoline.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 8, 2011
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