From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
‘Fake news’: Smotrich denies budget feud is blocking purchase of crucial military supplies amid Gaza war
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decries reports that his ongoing budgetary feud with the defense establishment has prevented the acquisition of necessary military equipment in the middle of Israel’s war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
“Fake news. There is no limit to armaments and all the necessities of war, period,” he tweets, claiming that the “same senior officials in the security establishment who failed [on October 7] are behind this false campaign so that they will be allowed to continue [waste] tens of billions of our money” without any oversight.
“I will not give up my demand, with the prime minister’s approval, to establish a professional committee to examine the defense budget,” Smotrich insists.
פייק ניוז. אין שום מגבלה לחימושים ולכל צרכי המלחמה. נקודה.
אותם בכירים במערכת הביטחון שכשלו עומדים מאחורי הקמפיין השקרי כדי שיאפשרו להם להמשיך ולשפוך עשרות מילארדים מהכסף של כולנו בלי שום הפקת לקחים ובקרה.
לא אוותר על דרישתי בהסכמת רוה״מ להקים ועדה מקצועית שתבחן את תקציב… pic.twitter.com/e2BJk2bq7f— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) May 28, 2024
The finance minister has held up the military’s purchase of new American fighter jets until a Knesset committee tasked with looking at the defense budget was convened — arguing that “doing the same thing over and over again without learning from past mistakes will bring us a disaster.”
Smotrich’s response comes after the Israel Hayom daily reported this morning that he was delaying the allocation of $1.7 billion from the military budget intended to be used on, among other things, aircraft munitions and Iron Dome missiles.
