Treasury’s deputy head of budgets quits days before Knesset vote on spending update

Itai Temkin, the Finance Ministry’s deputy budget commissioner, announces that he is resigning from his post.

The announcement comes just days before the revised state budget for 2024, which contains adjustments to release funds to the war effort, is expected to be brought to the Knesset for approval.

As deputy head of the budget division for macrofinance and budgetary matters, Temkin in recent weeks led the plans for spending changes stemming from the ongoing war against the Hamas terror group.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich describes Temkin as “one of the most talented people” at the ministry, thanks him on behalf of the government for his service in the public sector, and wishes him “great success in his future in the private sector.”

At the ministry, Temkin was also responsible for the budget department’s relationship with global credit rating agencies as well as for leading negotiations with the Histadrut labor union regarding wage agreements.

As part of his role, Temkin over the past decade was involved in building and approving the state budget, including the formulation of the budget frameworks that led to a “significant and constant improvement in the fiscal soundness of the government and enabled it to deal with the economic crises that battered the economy in recent years,” the Finance Ministry says in a statement.