'Budget should be expanded to answer social demands'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 10/11/2011 11:33
Barak suggests NIS 7 billion expansion of budget; Steinitz responds that to call such a proposal irresponsible "is an understatement."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak Photo: Ariel Tarmoni/Defense Ministry
Defense
Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday said that the state budget should be
expanded in order to help implement the Trajtenberg Committee's
recommendations, Israel Radio reported.
Barak said that in order
to answer the demands of the social justice movement, the state budget
should be expanded by NIS 7 billion, according to the report.
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Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz responded to Barak, saying that such a proposal was irresponsible.
"To break the budget limit in today's world is dangerous," Steinitz said. "It's like driving on a narrow bridge and swerving from side-to-side." To call such a move irresponsible "is an understatement."
Barak on Monday butted heads with Steinitz over the defense cuts, which could ostensibly be avoided if the budget were expanded.
Barak argued that despite the need for substantial changes within the
government to facilitate socioeconomic changes, the Defense Ministry
cannot afford any dramatic budget cuts. At a time when Israel faces
numerous threats, he said, this is not the time for dramatic cuts.
Defense Ministry Director-General Udi Shani warned Monday that budget cuts would impede the IDF's capabilities.
"It will be hard to sustain training, call up reserves and there will be
a serious blow to the equipment inventory," Shani told Army Radio.
The IDF also pushed back Monday against government plans to cut the defense budget.
Chief of General Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz said that he will not allow
officers to be publicly criticized for standing up for their principles
and opposing the cuts.
Gantz’s comment came in response to criticism within the Treasury and
government that the IDF was acting “spoiled” and needed to make dramatic
cuts to the defense budget.Yaakov Katz, Herb Keinon and Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.