ISRAEL APPROVES INITIAL 2026 BUDGET-Lawmakers voted 62-55 in favour of the spending plan
Israel’s parliament has approved the 2026 state budget draft, thereby averting the alternative prospect of an early election.
Lawmakers voted 62-55 in favour of the spending plan, which totals 662 billion shekels, excluding debt servicing, and sets a budget deficit ceiling of 3.9% of gross domestic product this year.
The budget, as well as an accompanying economic plan, still faces a difficult path to final approval amid deepening polarisation within Netanyahu’s governing coalition. Under Israeli law, the budget must be passed by the end of March or risk triggering a snap election.
Tensions inside the coalition have simmered as a result of several issues, including the demands by ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties for legislation exempting religious seminary students from mandatory military service.
Netanyahu’s coalition partners – as well as opposition parties – argue that ultra-Orthodox men must share the burden of military service, particularly after two years of fighting in Gaza and Lebanon in which nearly 1,000 Israeli soldiers were killed.
