Budget for 2024 approved with boost in military expenses: Netanyahu

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Jan 2024 22:29

The newly approved budget has been increased by approximately 70 billion shekels ($18.7 billion) to cover the expenses related to the war on Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, speaks during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Security Ministry in "Tel Aviv", Palestine, Sunday, Jan. 7, 202 (Pool via AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced the regime's approval of the revised 2024 state budget, featuring augmented allocations for security and wartime expenses amid the ongoing war on Gaza.

"We have reached an agreement and we will now pass a very important budget. This is the war budget that also looks after the needs of our reservists and their families, the self-employed, the Government ministries, and the needs of the public."

"We are increasing the health budget and adding NIS 1 billion to it for mental health, a major and important need. It increases the education budget, the social welfare budget, and the public security budget but, first of all, it takes care to increase the security budget, which is simply essential for victory and for our future," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by his office.

According to The Times of Israel, the newly approved budget has been increased by approximately 70 billion shekels ($18.7 billion) to cover the expenses related to the war on Gaza, which has been ongoing for over 100 days.

The additional funds are expected to be allocated for security purposes, compensation for those affected by the war, and higher budgets for healthcare, police, welfare, and education.

In December, Netanyahu advocated for a yearly increase of 20 billion shekels in "Israel's" military-related expenses, emphasizing a need for a higher proportion of the country's GDP to be allocated for defense.

During the same month, the Knesset approved a revised budget for 2023, incorporating an extra 30 billion shekels for military/security purposes.

Israeli economy sustains massive fallouts due to war

Over the past months, several reports highlighted that the Israeli economy sustained massive fallouts as a result of the war on Gaza.

Several industrial sectors have been affected as a result of the mobilization of 350,000 army reservists, including the tourism industry, the tech sector, and businesses in general.

The construction sector which heavily relies on Palestinian labor has also suffered setbacks as a result of the regime imposing restrictions on Palestinian workers from entering the Israeli-occupied territories.

The restrictions were introduced as a means to safeguard internal security as a result of the October 7 operation.

Last week, the Israeli Ministry of Finance Accountant General revealed that "Israel's" fiscal deficit expanded to 4.2% of the GDP by December 2023, marking a substantial increase from the 2% deficit recorded at the end of September.

This surge translates to a significant gap of NIS 77.5 billion ($20,7 billion) between government revenues and expenditures, primarily attributed to heightened spending related to the costs of war.

By the end of November 2023, the deficit stood at 3.4%, amounting to NIS 62.3 billion ($16,6 billion). This increase in the deficit is also due to the cost of war.

On December 31, an analysis by WashPo revealed that the war on Gaza is imposing a staggering daily cost of $220 million on "Israel".