Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Friday, December 5, 2025
From the Liveblog of
Friday, December 5, 2025
PM: Government to approve budget before Shabbat, will complete its term
Members of the government discuss the 2026 budget, December 5, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leading a cabinet meeting about the 2026 state budget, says, “We’ve come to vote on the budget at a good time, and we will finish at a good time, too, before Shabbat.”
The remarks are published around noon on Friday, some four hours before the Sabbath.
Netanyahu commends ministers, in particular Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, for their “practical, positive approach.”
“We are on our way to bringing [to fruition] a budget — a budget that is good news for the State of Israel,” the premier says.
Then, addressing “those who are concerned about the matter,” he adds: “This government will live out its days.”
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