Israel’s government approved 2.6 billion shekels for urgent defence procurement, funded by a 4.9 per cent reduction in ministry budgets. Education, health and welfare are among the affected services, while coalition allocations are exempt. An attached legal opinion raised the consequences of a large cut late in the budget year and the restraints governing election-period decisions.
Israel’s government approved 2.6 billion shekels for urgent Defence Ministry purchases on 18 October, drawing the money from civilian ministry budgets. The proposal prescribes a 4.9 per cent reduction in their budgets. Education, health and welfare are among the affected areas. Allocations under coalition agreements were exempted from the reduction.[1], [2]
The document circulated to ministers referred to classified procurement requirements. Details of the equipment and the grounds for urgency were to be presented to the ministerial procurement committee. Defence Ministry professionals argued that waiting until a new government was formed could impair the response to security needs. The explanatory text described the transfer as meeting a requirement for the current budget year alone.[1]
On the preceding Wednesday, the government had separately approved 1.03 billion shekels to advance an Apache helicopter deal. Most of that allocation was to come from a programme for Arab communities. The two decisions together provide more than 3.6 billion shekels for defence procurement.[1]
A legal opinion attached to the proposal recalled the duty to exercise government powers with restraint before an election and to avoid constraining a successor government. It also warned that a substantial reduction late in the budget year could affect ministries’ operations and called for discussion of those consequences. Finance Ministry officials told N12 they had previously warned that major additional defence allocations would come at the expense of public services.[1]
