The coalition on Thursday passed the 2021 state budget bill – Israel's first budget in over three years – clearing a major hurdle and ensuring it cannot be toppled in the coming months.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Israeli lawmakers began a marathon voting session on the 780-budget items bill on Wednesday morning, having to clear hundreds of reservations and amendments submitted by the opposition. The Knesset voted in the NIS 609 billion ($194 billion) spending plan for 2021 with a 61-MK majority just after 5 a.m, following an all-night session.
Voting on a host of additional budget items making up the arrangement bill – legislation that details the appropriation of government funds in practice – is expected to continue throughout Thursday followed by a vote on the NIS 573 billion ($183 billion) 2022 state budget, late Thursday night or on Friday morning.
Bogged down by political upheavals and successive election campaigns, Israel has been without an official state budget since 2018. Under Israeli law, a new government has 100 days to pass the state budget or the Knesset must dissolve, triggering a general election. This meant Prime Minister Naftali Bennett faced a Nov. 14 deadline to maintain the coalition's hold on power, and Thursday's vote marks a significant achievement for the eight-party patchwork government.
"This is a festive day for Israel!" Bennett tweeted once the 2021 budget was passed. "After years of chaos we have formed a government, defeated the [COVID] Delta variant and now, we have passed a state budget. Now we can push ahead full force."
Prime Minister-designate Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted, "After a long night we passed the 2021 budget in the Knesset. We still have a long day ahead of us and [passing] next year's budget. We're here to effect change!"
Addressing parliament ahead of the vote, Bennett said passing the budget was "the most important moment since the government was formed."
The new budget comes "after three and a half years of chaos, failed management and paralysis, years in which the country was a tool in a personal game, years of four election campaigns one after another at a dead end," he said.
The lengthy voting process saw at least two faux pas by the opposition: Shas leader Aryeh Deri accidentally voted with the government on one budget item as later so did Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu. In either case, however, their votes did not change the outcome.
Ahead of the vote, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman said the 2021-2022 state budget would be the first one passed in three and a half years "because of the personal interests of one man, who was willing to sacrifice Israel's economy" for that interest – another reference to Netanyahu."
Barring a dramatic political upset, the coalition faces a rotation in the premiership in late 2022 when Bennett is expected to step aside and make room for Lapid. The power-sharing deal also states that in the event early elections are called the caretaker prime minister would be Lapid, not Bennett.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
