Otzma Yehudit again votes against budget-related bill, which passes anyway

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party on Tuesday again voted against legislation backed by the coalition.

The budget-related bill put forth by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich nevertheless passed 55-52 after the coalition called in MKs to ensure it was approved.

Ben Gvir has vowed to buck coalition discipline over a dispute in which he claims Smotrich has not acceded to his demands to increase the budget of the Israel Police, which his ministry oversees.

“Due to Minister Smotrich’s reckless decision to harm the salaries of police officers and prison guards — a bullying decision that harms those who risk their lives for the security of Israel — and his additional decision to retroactively cut one billion shekels from the 2024 budget, in violation of an agreement… the Otzma Yehudit party will vote against the budget legislation being brought to a vote this evening,” the party said.

The party also voted last week against an initial reading of the state budget, which went on to pass regardless. That move came amid Ben Gvir’s demand that the coalition move to fire Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Though many in the coalition have voiced support for ousting the attorney general, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not moved forward on it as of yet, possibly fearing the potential public and legal pushback on such contentious action. Some in the coalition have argued that this is not the time to make drastic changes to the judicial system, including the Attorney General’s Office.

Smotrich has also made comments to that effect, saying last week that “after the war, the time will come when we can advance the [judicial] reform according to the mandate we received from the public, but the right thing to do now is to reach an agreed-upon compromise and prevent the [societal] rift and the scenes [of protest] we saw before October 7.”

Ben Gvir has a history of threatening his coalition partners and boycotting votes to advance his political and policy goals.

Although government regulations say that a minister who votes against his own government’s budget can be viewed as having resigned, Netanyahu is seen as unlikely to fire him.

Monday saw the Knesset give final approval to a bill raising the deficit cap and expanding the 2024 budget by billions to cover defense outlays amid the ongoing war.

The law passed its second and third readings in the Knesset by a vote of 62-52, largely along party lines.

The legislation raised the deficit ceiling to 7.7 percent of gross national production, from its current cap of 6.6%. Lifting the ceiling will allow the government to add roughly NIS 33 billion ($9 billion) to the 2024 budget, with the vast majority of the funds going to defense spending.