MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid) said the 2026 state budget offers “simply no good news for the Israeli public," speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday ahead of its first vote in the Knesset plenum next week.
If the state budget is not approved in all three readings by the end of March, when the fiscal year closes, the Knesset will automatically dissolve, and elections will be called.
Despite the political infighting surrounding the vote, Beliak said he believes the budget will pass its first reading, expected for Monday.
As a member of the Knesset's Finance Committee, Beliak told the Post that he and other opposition lawmakers would “fight with full force” against the budget’s final passage and what the budget comprises.
Following initial approval, the budget will be sent to the Finance Committee for deliberations and revisions before returning to the plenum for its second and third readings.
Finance Ministry submits state budget to Knesset after delays
The Finance Ministry said on Monday it submitted the state budget to the Knesset, after a delay.
“I think the budget that was submitted yesterday is more of the same policy, or rather, the lack of policy, that we’ve experienced from this government over the past three years,” Beliak said.
“Once again, fifteen unnecessary ministries; once again, nearly NIS 7 billion in coalition funds; and once again, extremely generous benefits for the ultra-Orthodox sector.”
“And where is the support for the middle class? Where is the support for the economy?” he questioned.
“The taxes that were raised at the end of 2024 remain in place. Everything continues, and the burden keeps falling on the middle class,” Beliak added. “There is no good news here.”
The budget vote comes amid an ongoing political standoff between the government and the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties over the controversial haredi draft bill. Critics of the draft bill argue that the current outline fails to enforce haredi conscription and serves primarily as a political measure to appease the haredi parties, while the IDF has warned it urgently lacks manpower.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been without a stable coalition majority since July, following the collapse of negotiations over the conscription legislation, which led haredi parties - Shas and United Torah Judaism - to exit the government.
Both haredi parties have threatened to withhold support for the state budget unless agreements are reached on the draft law to avoid conscription.
According to several reports over the past few days, the government is expected to persuade the haredi parties to support the budget in its first reading, with assurances that the draft legislation will advance soon afterward.
Beliak said he also expects the budget to pass its first reading, despite the threats from the haredi parties.
“I don’t see a scenario in which they vote against the budget at that stage,” he said.
Beliak outlined what he believes will follow once the budget clears its initial hurdle.
“The ultra-Orthodox parties are saying they will not vote for the budget in its second and third readings until there is a draft exemption law.”
“So I assume that after the first reading, they’ll [the government] do everything they can to advance the exemption law while moving forward with budget discussions in parallel, because they don’t have time. They can’t pass a budget without an exemption law.”
Beliak said there was "no doubt" the opposition would vote unanimously against the budget in the plenum.
“What I do know is what we will do,” he said. “We will oppose this budget, a budget that once again crushes the Israeli middle class and harms the productive sector. We will vote against it.”
“We are maintaining two parallel paths: opposing this budget and opposing the exemption law, and we’ll do everything we can to stop both,” he said.