From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Knesset committee approves extra $7.8 billion for 2023 war funding
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Knesset Finance Committee approves for its final readings in the Knesset plenum a supplemental budget for 2023 designed to cover the costs of the fighting in Gaza and on the Lebanese border.
The supplemental budget adds an extra NIS 25.9 billion ($7 billion) to the original 2023 budget, raising it to NIS 510.6 billion ($138 billion), before debt servicing costs.
The supplemental budget will actually provide a total of NIS 28.9 billion ($7.8 billion) in funds for the wars with Hamas and Hezbollah and their associated civilian costs, with the extra NIS 4 billion over the approved spending increases coming from funds redirected from other sources within the general budget.
Some NIS 17 billion of these funds will go towards security costs such as arms procurement and payments for IDF reservists, while NIS 12 billion will finance civilian expenses, including the costs to the state of hosting evacuees from northern and southern Israel, and financial assistance for those injured during the war.
Hearings on the supplemental budget in the Knesset plenum will begin on Wednesday and voting on the budget in its second and third readings are scheduled for Thursday.
