Defense minister holds firm on budget demand

The cabinet fight over the defense budget continued over the weekend as Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon rejected a reported compromise between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid over increased funding for the Defense Ministry.

Reports Saturday said the compromise under consideration would include an additional NIS 6 billion (some $1.7 billion) in defense spending, and would see the national deficit rise to 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product.

Security sources said that Ya’alon would not accept the NIS 6 billion figure, and feels that the IDF budget needs to be increased further, Haaretz reported on Sunday.

The prime minister had been pushing for an additional NIS 20 billion ($5.5 billion) to be allocated to the defense establishment — NIS 9 billion to cover the costs of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza and NIS 11 billion for expanded operational and personnel spending.

Lapid and Netanyahu have been engaged in a semi-public political tug-of-war over the 2015 state budget for weeks, and Ya’alon in recent days has been outspoken in his push for more allocations to the IDF.

During the talks, Lapid has insisted that taxes not be raised to fund the increased spending, and that the government must take steps to improve the lot of Israel’s middle class.

The Yesh Atid party chief said Saturday that the sides were close to a deal and that Israel was now able to produce a budget that — even after a year that saw the longest military conflict in 30 years (against Hamas) — would not harm social welfare programs, “will not include new taxes,” and will feature clauses to improve education and housing availability.

The country’s top defense brass presented its budget request to the security cabinet earlier this month.

Last week at a Tel Aviv security conference, Ya’alon said that Israel’s defense needed “billions,” which it would be “irresponsible” to deny. He stressed that the defense budget had been cut in recent years “for political reasons,” so the requested increases were not extras, “but rather about correcting this distortion to cover the cost of Operation Protective Edge.”

If taxes were to be raised, Lapid has threatened in past weeks to pull out of the governing coalition, and has repeatedly pledged that the costs of the 50-day military campaign will not be covered by a tax increase.

The exit of Lapid’s 19-seat Yesh Atid from the coalition would likely necessitate early elections. Lapid’s declared optimism Saturday about a budget deal was seen as an indication that he does not seek to bring down the government.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.