From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Ahead of final budget vote, opposition accuses government of ‘looting’ public funds to reward political allies
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Opposition lawmakers harshly criticize the proposed 2026 budget ahead of the Knesset’s expected vote later tonight, accusing the government of prioritizing the needs of coalition partners and “looting” public funds to finance ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and West Bank settlements.
“We are at war, and, when cuts are necessary, the people of Israel know how to bear them. But the government is doing something entirely different: looting the public purse — NIS 7 billion ($2.2 billion) in political bribery just to preserve the coalition,” says former prime minister Naftali Bennett, widely seen as one of the leading challengers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this year’s elections, calling the budget the “most reckless and anti-Zionist” in the state’s history.
“While IDF Chief of Staff [Eyal] Zamir is crying out, ‘I don’t have enough soldiers to win,’ the government is transferring NIS 2 billion to yeshivas that educate people not to enlist,” he says, referring to reports last week that Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned the security cabinet that the army could soon collapse due to mounting operational demands and a deepening manpower shortage.
The left-wing Democrats party leader Yair Golan likewise says the “worst government in Israel’s history” is passing a budget that amounts to a “working plan for dismantling the State of Israel,” citing millions in funding for ultra-Orthodox schools that “refuse to teach core curriculum subjects,” amid cuts to higher education, and allocations to West Bank settlements “in amounts exceeding those given to communities inside the Green Line.”
“While the serving and working public collapses under the burden of reserve duty and the cost of living, amid sirens and daily anxiety for loved ones at the front, this government is reaching deep into the public’s pocket,” he says, accusing the government of “waging a war of attrition” against its own citizens.
Netanyahu’s government approved the inclusion of over NIS 5 billion ($1.6 billion) in discretionary coalition funds for Haredi institutions, West Bank settlements, and other party priorities in the 2026 state budget earlier this month, while simultaneously instituting a three percent budget cut across other ministries to finance increased defense spending amid the ongoing war with Iran.
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