Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed the cabinet budget meetings, scheduled for September 2 and 13, until October. Netanyahu aides have been expressing doubt lately whether the budget will be brought to a vote at all, and said that early elections were still possible.
Last week, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz said that the cabinet would approve the state budget by Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) on September 16.
Despite repeated assertions that the 2013 budget will be approved, it is not clear at this time whether it will even be brought to a vote. Netanyahu, Steinitz and their aides will meet coalition partners in the coming weeks to discuss passing a budget in view of the massive cuts necessary.
Netanyahu's aides say that while support from the Likud and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak's Ha'atzma'ut Party is guaranteed, it is not clear whether Shas and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu will support an austerity budget. The coalition is establishing the support of the National Union and Jewish Home parties to pass the budget in the Knesset.
If Netanyahu cannot win the support in principle of Shas and Yisrael Beitenu for the massive budget cuts, it is highly doubtful if the cabinet will approve the budget even after the holidays. If the budget is not passed, the Knesset will dissolved during the winter session, which begins in mid-October, and early elections will be held.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 14, 2012
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