Israel's cabinet today approved a 1% across-the board budget cut for all government ministries, except the Ministry of Defense, for the 2024 budget, including NIS 525 million that had originally been earmarked for raising salaries of high school teachers. The 1% budget cut is to finance the continued evacuation of residents in the north and south for two additional months, at a total cost of NIS 1 billion.
Only last week the government transferred hundreds of millions of shekels in coalition funds.
The cuts apply to the government's social and civilian budgets, including the ministries of education, health and welfare. The defense budget was excluded as usual, but not the national security (police) budget.
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir opposed the NIS 42 million cut from his ministry's budget and said: "Just as it did not occur to anyone to cut the funds of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF, it should not occur to anyone to cut the funds of the Ministry of National Security, and the many organizations under it. The cut was indeed made for an important purpose, but the meaning of cutting funds in the police, the prison service and the fire and rescue service is harm to internal security during wartime."
However, sources in the Ministry of Finance claim that Ben Gvir is distorting reality. They claim that Ben Gvir has demanded and received from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu budget additions worth billions of shekels but his ministry has been unable to implement use of the funds with money simply sitting there in various budget sections. This at a time when the Ministry of Finance is struggling to finance the heavy costs of the war, with the widening fiscal deficit, which reached 7% of GDP in May.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 7, 2024.
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