Smotrich says committee holds first meeting to examine defense spending

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announces the first meeting of a public committee to examine defense spending convened today, saying it is “impossible to give a blank check to the security system to do more of the same” after the October 7 massacre and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

“We will investigate in depth where the faults were and how to proceed. Together, with all partners in the committee’s work, we will build Israel’s security for the coming years,” he writes on X.

This May, following an extended fight with the defense establishment, Smotrich announced that he had reached an agreement with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to establish the committee, which was held under the auspices of the National Security Council

Smotrich and Gallant had engaged in a public battle over the defense budget, with the finance minister previously threatening that he would not approve any “strategic and long-term future force build-up” until after the committee published its recommendations, claiming that “doing the same thing over and over again without learning from past mistakes will bring us a disaster.”

נבנה את ביטחון ישראל לשנים הבאות.

היום התכנסה הישיבה הראשונה של הוועדה הציבורית לבחינת תפיסת הביטחון ותקציב הביטחון של מדינת ישראל. ועדה שאני נאבק כבר חצי שנה על הקמתה. אירועי השביעי לאקטובר ומלחמת חרבות ברזל שומטים את הקרקע מתחת להנחות עבודה רבות מאוד שמערכת הביטחון הישראלית… pic.twitter.com/XLCpwrbvIk

— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) August 4, 2024