Israeli Knesset lawmakers gave their final approval of a 2025 budget worth some 756 billion shekels ($206 billion) on Tuesday afternoon, likely securing the coalition’s stability for the remainder of its term.
The vote passed with a majority of 66 supporters and 52 opponents.
The total budget for calculating the expenditure limit, which excludes the repayment of state debts, is 620 billion shekels ($169 billion)—a 20.6% increase compared to 2024’s spending limit, stemming mainly from the jump in defense spending amid fighting on multiple fronts.
The Defense Ministry’s budget is the highest at approximately 109.8 billion shekels ($29.9 billion), followed by funds for the Education Ministry, the Health Ministry and the National Insurance Institute.
“This is not just a budget,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared in his opening remarks at the Knesset debate. “It’s the story of hundreds of thousands of [IDF] fighters, both men and women, conscripts and reservists, and their families. It is the story of the heroes of the borders, pioneering settlers—of an entire nation that is going to war to win.
“This budget is the story of a beautiful Israel. An Israel that mobilizes all its forces and, unfortunately, has also paid with [the lives of] the best of its sons and daughters, in order to safeguard the state’s security. And we are here to support, assist, and honor,” concluded the finance minister.
Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition National Unity Party, blasted the state budget as “a symbol of shamelessness,” accusing the government of “the cynical exploitation of the fog of war for political maneuvers.
“However, Israeli society is strong, the State of Israel is strong, the foundation of Israel’s economy is strong, the people of Israel are stronger than ever—and we will fix it,” Gantz said in a statement.
Ahead of the Knesset debate, demonstrations against the government took place outside the parliament, with protesters blocking entrances.
“The fact that it took me half an hour to walk 50 meters from the Finance Ministry to here, that is not right,” stated Smotrich. “There is no police in Israel: a finance minister can’t cross, lawmakers have to walk on foot.”
The Knesset had until March 31 to pass a state budget and prevent the collapse of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The fall of the government was unlikely, as the premier had bolstered his coalition with the addition of Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope Party, as well as the recent re-addition of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party.
Sa’ar, who has served as the Jewish state’s top diplomat since November, noted the state budget includes an “unprecedented” increase of 545 million shekels (some $150 million) to strengthen public diplomacy.
The funds will be used for “international campaigns, engagement with international media, social networks and more,” Sa’ar’s office said after the budget passed, noting that the increase was secured as part of the coalition agreement his faction struck with Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
“Israel’s public diplomacy is a crucial and life-saving matter, just like weapons on the battlefield. It is another front in Israel’s battle to secure its existence and its future. We are facing a new form of antisemitism, one that targets the Jewish state, delegitimizes it, and dehumanizes it, while applying double standards against us,” the foreign minister said. JNS
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