BUDGET APPROVAL Members of the governing coalition celebrated in the Knesset after the state budget of 609 billion shekels ($194 billion) was passed in a 61-59 vote early on November 4, giving Israel a parliamentary approved budget for the first time in more than three years. On the night of November 6, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman held a joint news conference in Jerusalem to present the budget to the public. Bennett pledged to honor his rotation agreement with Lapid (who is slated to take over the premiership in September 2023), calling him “a partner and friend” and praised Liberman for having done “excellent work,” adding that the passage of the budget “guarantees economic and political stability.” Lapid retorted: “I’m convinced!”
SYRIA STRIKE Israel allegedly carried out a rare daytime airstrike against Hezbollah weapon caches in Damascus on October 30, Syrian media reported. The airstrike, which caused explosions around the capital, killed at least one Syrian Armed Forces soldier and wounded three others, Syrian state-run SANA news agency stated. The sites contained several ammunition depots belonging to Hezbollah and other Iran-affiliated militias, reports stated. Meanwhile on Saturday, an IAF F-15 fighter jet escorted an American B-1 heavy bomber that crossed over Israeli airspace on its way to the Persian Gulf. The flight of the bomber, commonly called the “bone,” was part of the joint strategic cooperation with United States forces in the Middle East.
