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Monday, December 16, 2024
Budget framework passes first reading in Knesset even as Ben Gvir’s party withhold support
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Knesset passes the first reading of the 2025 state budget’s framework bill 58-53, even with the far-right Otzma Yehudit party withholding its support.
Among other things, the state budget framework bill proposes to raise the deficit ceiling to 4.3 percent and stipulates that permitted government expenditures will be raised by an additional NIS 64 billion ($17,835,000,000).
Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben Gvir declines to vote, while several members of his party vote against the bill, after previously announcing that the party no longer considers itself bound by coalition discipline, due to the coalition’s failure to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Despite threats to block the budget over the issue of Haredi enlistment, neither Shas nor United Torah appeared to oppose the bill. The budget must be passed by the end of March 2025 or the government will automatically fall, triggering early elections.
In all, the budget includes a roughly NIS 40 billion package of tax hikes and spending cuts to try to rein in a budget deficit now running at 8.5% of GDP.
Overall spending was set at NIS 744 billion ($199.23 billion), of which 161 billion will go towards debt servicing.
“This is a good budget…[which] gives the security forces everything they need to continue the war and maintain Israel’s supremacy in the Middle East,” says Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, boasting that it will provide benefits for IDF reservists and “contains the foundations for accelerated economic growth,” including “everything related to high-tech, real estate and employment of Haredim.”
The Times of Israel Community.