Netanyahu seeks more defense funding; Lapid sets condition
Netanyahu asked to increase the defense budget. Lapid said he would support the move but demanded that it not be funded through tax increases. Likud responded with criticism.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid met on Monday to discuss increasing the IDF budget, according to Lapid’s office. Netanyahu sought to reopen the state budget to allocate additional funds to the defense establishment. However, Lapid refused to support the proposal if it meant raising taxes. Instead, he conditionally agreed to support the proposal if the coalition funds, which are used to finance haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft evasion, were canceled.
Lapid emphasized that the IDF needs to be strengthened but the budget should not be raised through tax increases on the middle class and reservists.
Netanyahu's Likud party dismissed Lapid’s claims as misleading and false, stating that the defense budget can be increased without raising taxes due to higher-than-expected government revenues and a lower-than-expected deficit. Lapid's office countered that Likud was lying and abandoning state security. Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot backed Lapid, stating that if the Netanyahu government wants a solution, it should meet all IDF needs by shutting off the flow of coalition funds and transferring money from political associates and draft evaders to the IDF.
The 2026 state budget, approved in March, set an expenditure cap of about NIS 699 billion and allocated nearly NIS 6 billion in coalition funds, some of which went to haredi institutions.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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