Knesset plenum passes 2007 State Budget

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Knesset plenum passed the 2007 State Budget early Thursday morning, following a long night of political haggling made even longer by technical glitches in the chamber's computerized voting system. When the votes were tallied, 63 Knesset Member had voted in favor of the NIS 295.4 billion budget, while 31 voted against, and six others abstained. The coalition parties assured a majority when they agreed to vote in favor of the budget during the late night push to have the bill approved. United Torah Judaism said its member would abstain rather than vote against it. Kadima director-general Yohanan Plesner said the news budget would go a long way toward bridging the gap between rich and poor.