The Knesset voted to allocate an additional NIS 30.8 billion ($9.2 billion) to defense spending on Monday, in response to security and civilian costs incurred from Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June and the ongoing war in Gaza.

The vote passed by a slim margin of 55 lawmakers for and 50 opposed, with many members of the opposition not in attendance.

The supplementary budget allocation is intended to cover increased defense spending, including for personnel, security operations, and related costs, raising overall government expenditure from NIS 756 billion ($228 billion) to NIS 787 billion ($237 billion) for 2025.

The Knesset also voted to raise the maximum overall deficit to 5.2 percent of GDP, up from the current cap of 4.9%.

“The army and its needs during wartime must stand above all disputes,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, speaking in the Knesset plenum.

The legislation was passed, even though the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party and some members of the party’s Agudat Israel faction opposed the measure.

Earlier on Monday, Hebrew media reported that the Degel HaTorah faction’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Dov Lando, instructed party members to oppose the bill, due to the ongoing conflict between the state and Haredi........

© The Times of Israel