Israel's parliament approves general budget, ensuring Netanyahu's continued rule amid protests.

BarcelonaThe Knesset, Israel's parliament, approved the 2025 general budget on Tuesday, amid protests inside and outside the chamber. With 66 votes in favor and 52 against, the budget's approval guarantees the survival of Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Since breaking the Gaza truce, he has once again enjoyed the support of the two main far-right parties., which guarantees him a parliamentary majority. Netanyahu had to approve the budget before the end of March to avoid having to call early elections and He achieved this with the votes of Religious Power, the party of the far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has returned to the government as Interior Minister since Netanyahu broke the ceasefire with massive bombings last Tuesday. This Tuesday afternoon, police forcibly removed some of the protesters who refused to leave in front of the Knesset and arrested at least nine.

The budget provides for a 21% increase in spending: the defense budget increases by 40%. "It is a war budget and, with God's help, it will be a budget of victory," proclaimed Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich shortly before the vote. During the session, opposition MPs supported the families of the hostages kidnapped since October 7, 2023, in Gaza, who were present in the chamber. The MPs displayed signs with the number 59, the number of Israelis, alive or dead, still held in the StripOutside the building, thousands of protesters blocked access, where there were clashes with police. Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Amir Ohana called them "criminals" for trying to stop a "democratic process," and Smotrich referred to him as "a group of anarchists."

This is the fifth budget the government has presented since it was formed in December 2022, and it includes significant cuts and tax increases to increase funding for the military. One-sixth of the budget (110 billion checks, or about €27 billion) is allocated to defense. The war effort entails €35 billion in cuts and a deficit target of 4.7%. The accounts include unprecedented tax increases, especially VAT, pay cuts for civil servants, and cuts.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid has criticized the budget as "the biggest robbery in the history" of the country, because it does not include any of the commitments to cut ministerial spending and has wide margins of discretion. It also includes more money for religious seminaries linked to the government's far-right partners, who refuse to perform military service. This has unlocked the support of ultra-Orthodox parties in the budget. "You are looting the money and the future of the middle class, of those who pay taxes and send their children to the army: you are taking advantage of it without any shame," Lapid denounced. Amir Yaron, governor of the Bank of Israel, criticized the budget last week, saying that "there is room to reduce spending without threatening potential economic growth."

Constitutional Crisis

The government also leads A clash with the judiciary over the dismissal of the head of the Shin Bet, the domestic secret serviceThe government announced his dismissal, but the Supreme Court has suspended it. The government has also been trying for months to remove the Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, against whom it filed a motion of no confidence this Sunday. The Shin Bet is investigating the case. Qatargate, the scandal involving Qatar's funding of Netanyahu's advisors to create an advertising campaign in support of his bid for the 2022 World Cup, and another scandal involving Qatar, according to which the country funded the Gaza government with Netanyahu's approval. The Shin Bet also criticizes Netanyahu for ignoring warnings about the Palestinian attack on October 7, and the prime minister is attempting to shift all the blame onto the security services. Baharav-Miara is overseeing the trial of the three corruption cases facing the prime minister.