Israel’s 2026 Budget Passes with Record Military Spending

RunWithRugs · 2026-03-30T15:47:13+00:00

Israel's Knesset approved a record 2026 budget of 850.6 billion shekels, including 143 billion for defense, amid opposition criticism. The decision came just before a legal deadline to avoid early elections.

RunWithRugs

2026-03-30 15:47:13

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(MENAFN) Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, approved the country’s 2026 state budget early Monday, including an unprecedented allocation for defense, amid strong opposition criticism.

According to reports, the final vote passed by 62 to 55. The total budget of 850.6 billion shekels ($271 billion) includes 143 billion shekels ($45.8 billion) for the Defense Ministry of Israel, marking the largest defense spending in the nation’s history.

The vote came just ahead of a legal deadline on Tuesday, after which failure to approve the budget would have automatically triggered early elections.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the budget sharply, writing on the social media platform X, “The greatest theft in the history of the state has been completed.” He added, “They took the money from reservists and gave it to draft dodgers. They robbed working people and gave it to the corrupt.”

The budget approval occurs amid the ongoing US-Israeli military operations against Iran, which have intensified regional tensions and contributed to the surge in Israeli defense spending.

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