Lawmakers approve 2026 defense budget of NIS 143 billion

By Sam Sokol 24 March 2026, 6:21 pm

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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"

MK Hanoch Milwidsky leads a Finance Committee meeting at the Knesset during the war with Iran and Hezbollah, March 15, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The Joint Committee for the Defense Budget unanimously approves a 2026 defense budget of NIS 143 billion ($45.8 billion), as well as an additional NIS 22 billion in income-dependent expenditure (including American aid grants) and NIS 82.2 billion ($26.3 billion) in authorization to commit for future spending.

The Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department will receive NIS 10 billion ($3.2 billion) while the Families and Commemoration Department will be allocated approximately NIS 2.7 billion ($865 million).

“The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is currently conducting intensive and continuous work surrounding the war… [and] today completed the passage of the defense budget,” says Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud).

“Amounting to tens of billions of shekels, a significant portion of this budget is designated for funding combat and operational needs. Under my leadership, the committee will continue to oversee, track and utilize all tools at its disposal for the security of the State and the resilience of its citizens.”

Due to the sensitivity of the defense budget, including sensitive information regarding the structure and capabilities of the defense system, it does not receive final approval from the Knesset plenum like the rest of the state budget, but rather by a Joint Committee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Finance Committee, whose approval replaces the final two readings the rest of the budget goes through.

According to the Knesset spokesman, “parallel to the 2026 budget approval, a dialogue is ongoing between the Finance and Defense ministries, in cooperation with the National Security Council, to finalize a multi-year plan for the defense establishment’s force building. This plan, spanning a decade starting in 2027, is valued at NIS 350 billion ($112 billion), of which NIS 50 billion ($16 billion) will come from internal defense establishment sources via efficiency measures.”

Yesterday, the Knesset Finance Committee voted to advance the 2026 state budget to the final two readings necessary for it to pass into law.