Cabinet approves across-the-board budget cuts to fund security at schools

The cabinet voted on Sunday to implement an across-the-board cut of 0.6 percent to government ministries in order to fund security for schools for the upcoming academic year, giving in to the demands of Education Minister Yoav Kisch and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Several members of the cabinet initially argued against the measure, the Kan public broadcaster reported, but ultimately voted in favor of it. Only National Projects Minister Orit Strock and Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer —  members of the far-right Religious Zionism party — voted against it. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the party, was absent from the vote.

Earlier this month, the government voted to approve an NIS 31 billion ($9 billion) increase to the 2025 state budget, of which NIS 1.6 billion ($473 million) would go toward humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Ahead of the vote, Kisch and Ben Gvir said in a joint statement that they would oppose the budget proposal unless it included funding for security at educational institutions for the school year. Without that money, Kisch warned that he could not guarantee that schools would open on schedule.

Most schools nationwide are slated to open on Monday, September 1.

Due to Smotrich’s opposition to the budget cuts, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained special permission from the legal adviser to the Finance Ministry, allowing him to bypass the finance minister and bring the matter to a cabinet vote himself.

The across-the-board funding cuts will release roughly NIS 285 million for the National Security Ministry to use to fund security for schools throughout the 2025-2026 academic year. While the budget allocated to the ministry at the start of 2025 should have included enough money to cover security, Ben Gvir has said that the funds were all allocated for other purposes.

Kisch, in a statement welcoming the move, said the funding would ensure “that the school year will begin as usual in a protected and safe environment.”

“The security of Israeli students is a red line,” he said. “I made it clear that we will not allow the school year to commence without the security budget being fully regulated, and I am glad that the government accepted my position and approved the budget.”

The education minister told the Ynet news outlet on Sunday that he believed Smotrich was opposed to the budget cuts for personal reasons, rather than logistical or political considerations.

“I think he got into some sort of emotional place here between himself and Itamar Ben Gvir,” said Kisch of Smotrich. “He claimed that Ben Gvir should budget, and Ben Gvir claimed that the Finance Ministry should. In the end, I’m the customer here. I need security for the educational institutions, so in the end, the prime minister intervened and forced it.”

Accusing Smotrich of being unwilling to find a solution, Kisch suggested that, “bizarrely, he was apparently willing to disrupt the start of the year just because of his quarrel with Ben Gvir.”

Ben Gvir welcomed the cabinet approval, saying: “I am glad that I was able to convince my colleagues to approve a budget for the security of educational institutions.”

“Tomorrow, God willing, Israeli students will study in safety.”

Among those who were opposed to approving the budget cuts but ultimately fell in line was Tourism Minister Haim Katz, who bemoaned the latest cuts to his ministry’s budget.

“Tourism in Israel is in the most serious crisis it has ever known, and the ministry’s budget is extremely meager,” he lamented. “Tourism is a major economic growth engine and a strategic information tool.”

He stressed that if Israel wants to ensure that tourism to Israel continues, “now is the time to invest in the tourism industry, strengthen it, and ensure its contribution to Israel’s economy and its standing in the world.”