From Knesset advances bill to increase defense budget, including for humanitarian aid to Gaza
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"
Lawmakers vote 42-37 in favor of the first reading of a bill approving an increase of NIS 31 billion ($9 billion) to the state budget, most of it to bolster the defense budget, with NIS 1.6 billion ($473 million) in funding for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The bill will now be referred to the Knesset Finance Committee for preparation for its final two readings.
The bill would raise the expenditure budget for the 2025 fiscal year to around NIS 786.7 billion ($236 billion). Its passage comes shortly after MKs voted 48-40 in favor of the first reading of a bill to raise the deficit ceiling for 2025 to 2.5%.
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