Liberman predicts majority support for budget and accompanying bill

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman says he will submit the state budget to the Knesset tomorrow, with the goal of having it approved in a first reading later in the week.

Liberman presents the NIS 432 billion ($134 billion) plan at a press briefing in which he predicts that the budget for 2022 will be even higher, at NIS 452 billion ($140 billion).

The budget for 2021-2022 includes a series of profound changes to the Israeli economy and society.

Israel’s annual budget comprises two bills: the budget allocation plan itself and an accompanying Arrangements Bill that describes how the plan will be implemented. It is the latter of the two that is usually more prone to partisan dispute.

Liberman stresses it is improper for lawmakers to back only the budget and not the Arrangements Bill, telling a press briefing that the “two are one whole; you can’t vote for the first and oppose the second.”

He predicts that the pair of bills will have a majority backing in the Knesset, where the ruling coalition has a razor-thin majority.