Israel's ruling coalition breathed a sigh of relief early Friday as the Knesset passed the national 2022 budget by a vote of 59 to 56.
The marathon overnight voting on budget bills was a major hurdle for the new government headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, whose fractious coalition holds a narrow majority.
According to the Knesset website, four MKs from the opposition were absent from the vote: Moshe Arbel from Shas, May Golan from the Likud, and Samy Abu Shahadeh and Ahmed Tibi from the Joint Arab List.
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The NIS 432.5 billion shekels ($133.8 billion) spending plan for 2021, which passed early Thursday, was the first budget Israel passed since 2018, shoring up the government's stability after years of political crises that saw the Knesset fail to pass a national budget for more than three years.
The coalition gave final approval to the NIS 452.5 billion shekels ($145.2 billion) state budget for 2022, far ahead of its March 2022 deadline, as the legislation passed its third reading shortly after 3 a.m. on Friday.
Failure to pass the budget by Nov. 14 would have brought down the government that was sworn into office in June and triggered a fifth election in barely three years, giving former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an opportunity to return to power.
Bennett celebrated on Twitter, writing that "after years of chaos – we formed a government, we overcame the Delta variant, and now, thank God, we passed a budget for Israel."
"After three years of stagnation, Israel is getting back to work," Bennett said in a statement.
The Knesset began voting on a series of budget bills, including hundreds of amendments, late on Wednesday. The assembly opened with Bennett and Netanyahu delivering speeches attacking one another.
Netanyahu's allies repeatedly heckled and interrupted Bennett. Unruly scenes continued. At one point, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's Likud party was escorted out after calling Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy a "floor rag" and an ultra-Orthodox lawmaker was removed after meowing like a cat.
As the opposition sought to drag the vote out into the early hours of the morning, coalition whip Idit Silman distributed candy to keep lawmakers alert.
The Knesset approved a bundle of new laws, including a congestion tax for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, eased import regulations and approved a higher retirement age for women. It also backed reforms on kosher certifications that have outraged ultra-Orthodox lawmakers.
The approval of the budget helped catalyze a 1.5% gain in the Tel Aviv 35 Index, which was also boosted by a rise in the global stock market.
Israel's economy is recovering after one of the world's fastest vaccine drives, with unemployment falling steadily and consumer confidence jumping over the last few months. In July, the central bank forecast growth of 5.5% this year despite a recent surge in new Covid-19 infections.
"We took responsibility," said Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid. "We kept our promise. We passed the '21-'22 budget for the State of Israel and all of Israel's citizens."
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman called it a "social and responsible budget."
"We will continue sticking to the task, avoiding narrow considerations and bring good news to all the country's citizens," he said.
On the opposite side of the aisle, MK Yisrael Katz (Likud), the former finance minister under Netanyahu, blasted the "terrible budget of cutbacks and taxes" in an Army Radio interview.
Katz, a prominent member of Netanyahu's party, said Thursday that "I am convinced that when Netanyahu resigns on his own accord... I will be elected head of the Likud party," but said he was focusing on ousting Bennett from office, not Netanyahu.
The ruling coalition headed by Bennett includes eight parties from across the political spectrum and has a razor-thin margin of 61 seats in the 120-member assembly.
MK Eitan Ginzburg (Blue and White), told Army Radio that by passing the 2021 budget, "we avoided fifth elections, stabilized the political system and the economy as well."
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, whose short-lived rotation government with Netanyahu dissolved last year over its failure to pass a budget, claimed vindication after the budget votes.
"I feel that the passage of the budget is a victory for the country, but also a personal victory for me," Gantz tweeted. "Those who acted out of personal interests and caused great damage to the country and its citizens are in the opposition, and those who look out for Israeli citizens are in the coalition."
Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar said, "The opposition conspiracy to drag Israel to fifth elections has failed. We've moved away from the abyss and put Israel back on a path of stability and working for the citizens."
Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg said the coalition could now get on with "normal life," while drawing attention to the internal divides that could cause its unraveling.
"The whole issue of relations with the Palestinians and settlements is at the heart of the divisions in the coalition," Zandberg, a member of the left-wing Meretz party, told Kan public radio. "We expect that we won't be surprised and there won't be building that endangers the two-state solution."
On the opposition side, the budget's passage was denounced by United Torah Judaism MK Uri Maklev. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers have said some of the tax hikes in the budget will affect their communities the most.
"This budget is the buying of power at an unparalleled cost," he said, arguing that the budget "imposes economic cuts on the public and harms the country's Jewish identity."
"This government's destiny is to collapse. It has no right to exist," Maklev added.
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However, senior government officials pointed to the new post-budgetary political situation as an opportunity to bring back the issue of cooperation with the Haredi parties to the table.
Speaking to Israel Hayom, the senior officials referred to several options that are being considered. For example, they said chances of both Shas and Torah Judaism were low, but perhaps one of them joining was possible. They also noted that the best and most realistic option was cooperation with the Haredi parties, even without official accession.
A government source told Israel Hayom: "The Haredi public has needs. Yeshivas, institutions, dormitories and everything related to life itself. [Bennett] cannot neglect them for three and a half years because they are bound to Benjamin Netanyahu. The Haredim themselves are better off finding cooperation and caring for their public."
