BICOM

Israel’s cabinet voted in favour of the 2015-16 budget during the early hours of the morning, with several disputes having been successfully resolved.

The budget will now be presented to the Knesset for approval, which if not secured would be considered a vote of no confidence in the government. Although the Knesset began its summer recess last week, it is expected to reconvene during the break for what is expected to be an impassioned debate and subsequent vote on the budget at the end of the month.

The final cabinet vote was finally cast at around 4am. Twenty ministers voted in favour of the budget and just one, Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon abstained. There is a gap of around £850million between the sum defence officials requested and what Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has allocated in the budget. Ya’alon along with the defence establishment maintain that such restrictions will damage Israel’s military capability.

However, several other budgetary disputes were resolved during the night. The Education Ministry will receive an extra £820 million, mainly to facilitate additional assistants in kindergartens. The Ministry for Culture and Sport also received a significant boost, as did the Health Ministry, with money allocated specifically for a new hospital in Ashdod.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the cabinet’s approval, saying “This budget is balanced, responsible, and concerned about growth and takes steps to lower the cost of living.” He added that the cabinet vote showed “the cohesion of the coalition and the cohesion of the cabinet.”

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Kahlon said “As well as benefits and easing the cost of living and supply of homes for Israelis, we are promoting major reforms of the like not seen for many years in order to bring about major growth.” Among his plans, Kahlon aims to open up the food and banking markets to greater competition.

The overall budget for 2015 will be £55 billion, increasing by £2.3 billion in 2016. The 2015-16 deficit will be 2.9 per cent.