The most important thing to come out of the agreement on the defense budget for 2022 has to do with the atmosphere in which it was reached. The quick agreement prevented needed battles between the Treasury and the Defense Ministry, and thereby possible harm to the IDF, its image, and those who serve.
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It's likely that the fact that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman, have all served as defense minister in recent years and are all well-versed in the needs of the military as well as its vulnerabilities, played a part. One of the IDF's main vulnerabilities is its need for a stable framework that will allow it breathing room and budget security.
The IDF had neither of these under the budgetless reality of the last two years. Somehow, solutions were found, but these were mainly stopgaps. They caused IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi's multi-year Tnufa workplan, his flagship project, to stall due to lack funding. Other urgent matters were also sidelines, or needed unreasonable improvisation to survive.
Like the agreement reached in 2015 between then-defense and finance ministers Moshe Ya'alon and Moshe Kahlon, the current deal includes compromise on both sides. The Treasury is giving the Defense Ministry more than it planned to – 58 billion shekels for this coming year, an increase of 4 billion shekels over 2021, and the Defense Ministry was forced to make due with approximately half of what it had requested and promise to live with the amount for the next two years.
The lion's share of the money is earmarked for preparations for a possible attack on Iran. The IDF will equip itself with a large quantity of precise weaponry for aircraft, as well as interceptors for the country's air defenses. This was also the first conclusion reached during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May (as soon as it was over, Gantz flew to Washington to discuss the issue with the US administration), and is relevant for any possible conflict on the northern front, as well.
The agreement includes a few other important points, as well. The first – which comes at an infuriating delay – is to fund a project to supply homes and other buildings near the Lebanese border with fortification against rocket attacks. The IDF also made a commitment to expedite work on the new subterranean defenses along the border. The new Gaza border fence saved lives in the last operation, and the country will pay a heavy price for delays in completing a similar one on the Lebanese border in the next conflict on the northern front.
The second issue is to fully implement the "One Soul" reforms decided on following the self-immolation of IDF veteran Itzik Saidyan. These reforms to how disabled IDF veterans are recognized and treated, has become a pet project for Gantz, and one on which he insisted in coalition negotiations. The reforms will provide, for the first time, a fitting approach to those seeking recognition and treatment.
The third issue is to stop improvising when it comes to a decision about shortening compulsory service. The decision was part of the Ya'alon-Kahlon understandings and cut mandatory service for men from 32 months to 30. The shortened service took effect in July 2020, and a decision has been made to freeze it until 2025. This means that even soldiers who enlisted last year will be required to serve two months longer than originally agreed on. We can assume that there will be a few who will want to petition the High Court of Justice about it (and they will find no lack of supporters, including some high-ranking IDF officials who think that the big drafts of the next few years will be able to cover the shortage). At any rate, this is something that should be regulated by law, a process that has already proven especially clumsy under the current government.
But along with the welcome extra budget, the IDF would do well to trim the fat and the waste. In the past few weeks, two more major-general positions have been added to the General Staff (military secretary to the prime minister and chief IDF prosecutor, the latter of whom has been promoted directly to major-general without having served as a brigadier general), and the IDF held a grandiose parachuting exhibition in Slovenia. These are just a couple of examples. At a time when the entire economy is desperate for funds, the IDF must not become confused – the extra money was allocated so it could prepare for the next war, and win it.
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