Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls for a NIS 3.3 billion increase in the defense budget, despite the current economic downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic, saying the move is necessary in light of “the many security challenges surrounding us.”
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office says the decision was made following a discussion with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Finance Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and other top government officials.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Brian Hook, US Special Representative for Iran and Senior Adviser to the US Secretary of State, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on June 30, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
“The prime minister ordered the Finance Ministry, together with officials from the Defense Ministry, National Security Council, and the Prime Minister’s Office, to find sources of funding to add NIS 3.3 billion to the defense budget,” his office says.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, this money will go to “funding routine IDF activities, [construction of the] Gaza border barrier, and other critical areas that cannot be delayed.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed the importance of allowing the defense establishment to preserve stability in the face of the many security challenges surrounding us,” his office says.
— Judah Ari Gross
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