The government approved an updated version of the 2026 state budget late Tuesday night, adding approximately NIS 30 billion to the defense budget due to Operation Roaring Lion.
Over NIS 5 billion in coalition funds were approved for the 2026 state budget, with hundreds of millions of shekels directed to haredi (ultra-Orthodox) institutions as part of the proposal. The funds will be allocated from other government ministries.
Millions of shekels were also allocated toward advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The 2026 state budget had already passed its first reading in the Knesset in January and must still undergo its final votes before the end of March. If it does not pass by the end of the month, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, triggering early elections.
Coalition funds are part of the national budget and are determined during coalition negotiations after elections when forming a government. They often sneerve as funding for sectoral institutions or services and are passed as a separate section in order to enable better oversight.
Opposition slams decision to allocate funds to haredim
The government meeting to approve the move took place via Zoom amid the ongoing war and was passed unanimously.
Among the approved allocations was NIS 1.269 billion in 2026 for programs supporting Torah institutions.
Opposition politicians sharply criticized the decision to allocate funds to haredi institutions during wartime, particularly as the IDF has warned of a growing manpower shortage while many haredim continue to avoid military service.
The Knesset Finance Committee convened again on Wednesday following the government’s approval of the updated state budget.
MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid), a member of the committee, told the panel that the government’s decision was “a very severe blow to every Israeli who works, serves, and pays taxes, while at the same time allocating large sums to draft evaders.”
“Your audacity keeps breaking records. Not a single minister dared vote against this disgrace,” Beliak added. “We have been in budget discussions for several days, and everything we discussed until now is no longer relevant – not in terms of the deficit, which has grown to 5.1%, and not in terms of the budget items.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) also slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, calling the allocation of nearly NIS 6 billion “the most corrupt kind of political bribery for the haredi parties.”
“Instead of money for reservists, instead of money for young parents, instead of money for an entire country that is collapsing,” Lapid said.
The budget’s approval process has been complicated by tensions within Netanyahu’s coalition, as haredi parties previously threatened to vote against the budget amid disagreements over advancing the haredi draft bill.
Haredi parties have demanded concessions that would limit haredi conscription to the IDF.
Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Netanyahu and Smotrich announced that the government would set aside advancing the controversial draft bill during the war.
“The costly campaign requires a special budget with the addition of tens of billions of shekels for the war effort,” Netanyahu said, adding that the operation “costs money, a lot of money.”
Smotrich said that advancement of the draft bill and other reforms would be postponed during the war “for unity.”
It was also decided that the controversial dairy reform led by Smotrich would be detached entirely from the state budget, delaying its advancement.