Knesset finance panel advances 2026 state budget to final readings required for it to become law

By Sam Sokol 23 March 2026, 11:26 am

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Sam 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"

Following an overnight debate, the Knesset Finance Committee votes to advance the 2026 state budget to the final two readings necessary for it to pass into law.

The budget bill authorizes the state to spend approximately NIS 850.6 billion ($270.8 billion) over the course of the 2026 fiscal year, split into a regular budget of NIS 621.75 billion ($198 billion) and a development and capital account budget of NIS 228.83 billion ($72.8 billion).

According to a committee spokesperson, the budget for calculating the expenditure limit will be approximately NIS 699 billion ($222 billion), and debt payments (excluding payments to the National Insurance Institute) will stand at NIS 151.8 billion ($48.3 billion).

The updated wartime budget bill adds more than NIS 30 billion ($9.5 billion) to the Defense Ministry budget, bringing it to over NIS 142 billion ($45.2 billion). The Education Ministry will receive almost NIS 97 billion ($30.8 billion), the National Insurance Institute nearly NIS 64 billion ($20.3 billion) and the Health Ministry around NIS 63 billion ($20 billion).

Following the committee’s approval, Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak says that the opposition “made it difficult for the coalition and stopped an attempt to steal NIS 5.8 billion ($1.8 billion) for sectoral politics.”

“Following the petitions we submitted, hundreds of millions of shekels for private Haredi education are in doubt and are under legal clarification in the Supreme Court. Later this week, we will continue the struggle in the Knesset plenum. We will not give up,” he says.

Beliak is referring to the government’s attempt to add a NIS 5.8 billion ($1.8 billion) “civilian emergency reserve” to the budget with no clear legal mechanism governing how the money can be spent.

Opposition lawmakers warned that this lack of safeguards left the funds vulnerable to misuse, particularly in an election year, raising concerns they could be diverted toward political or coalition spending.