budget

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at his side, and other coalition ministers and MKs celebrate the passage of the state budget in the Knesset, May 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Analysis

Netanyahu’s fat man, thin man and the burden of the new state budget

As more funds are funnelled to the ultra-Orthodox community, other budgets for investment in high-tech are reduced; reforms for tackling high cost of living are suffering

An illustrative photo of the Tel Aviv financial business district skyline. (Elijah Lovkoff via iStock by Getty Images)

May 30, 2023, 4:49 pm

Return of judicial overhaul could hurt Israel’s credit rating, Fitch warns

Bank of Israel head says economy has suffered significant shock in recent months due to proposed sweeping changes to judicial system

By Sharon Wrobel

May 24, 2023, 11:13 pm

Netanyahu’s fat man, thin man and the burden of the new state budget

As more funds are funnelled to the ultra-Orthodox community, other budgets for investment in high-tech are reduced; reforms for tackling high cost of living are suffering

By Sharon Wrobel

Illustrative: View of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, November 29, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

May 24, 2023, 6:01 pm

Shekel slumps 1.6% against dollar after IDF chief hints at war with Iran

Rattled market sends exchange rate to NIS 3.73 per dollar for only third time since early 2017; Lapid blames budget passage, noting currency muscled up when he was in power

By ToI Staff

Opposition leader Yair Lapid delivers a speech in the Knesset plenum during the budget debate, May 23, 2023 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 24, 2023, 9:07 am

Lapid slams ‘most destructive budget in nation’s history’; Ben Gvir hails ‘new dawn’

Gantz says new national budget, passed after marathon overnight session, means citizens ‘will pay the price’ for prioritizing Haredi demands over soaring cost of living

By ToI Staff and Carrie Keller-Lynn

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, MKs and ministers after the Knesset passed the 2023-2024 budget, May 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 24, 2023, 6:48 am

Knesset approves 2023-2024 budget in all-night vote, patching coalition rift

Lawmakers speed through hundreds of objections to pass fiscal roadmap decried as ‘reckless’ by critics opposed to earmarks for ultra-Orthodox

By Carrie Keller-Lynn and ToI Staff

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) shakes hands with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (R) at the Knesset, alongside other coalition party heads ahead of passing the 2023-2024 state budget vote, May 23, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 23, 2023, 10:29 pm

MKs push budget bills through Knesset as PM boasts government will last full 4 years

Netanyahu looks to project stability, with all-night voting session set to remove looming threat to coalition’s survival; 2023 budget okayed along coalition lines

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich (standing) with United Torah Judaism leader Yitzchak Goldknopf at the Knesset on November 21, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 22, 2023, 2:29 pm

Netanyahu gives UTJ nod to pay NIS 250m to yeshiva students, ending budget boycott

As final budget votes begin in Knesset, government secures critical support for two-year, trillion-shekel plan

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

Anti-overhaul protesters gather in Tel Aviv, May 20, 2023. (Amir Goldstein/ Courtesy)

May 21, 2023, 8:12 pm

Rallying against looming budget, anti-overhaul protesters may be overreaching

Protest leaders say fighting against the partisan state budget is an extension of opposing judicial revamp — but the change in strategy has led to some discomfort

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

Anti-overhaul protesters rally in Tel Aviv, May 20, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

May 20, 2023, 11:40 pm

Rallying for 20th week, overhaul opponents also decry looming budget as ‘a robbery’

Some 150,000 estimated at nationwide rallies; opposition head Lapid threatens to bolt compromise talks on judicial revamp; former budget chief: Government ‘destroying the economy’

By Michael Bachner and ToI Staff

Protesters against the government's judicial overhaul plans in Tel Aviv, on May 13, 2023. (Jack Guez/AFP)

May 20, 2023, 12:18 pm

Anti-overhaul protests enter 20th week as compromise talks remain stalled

Protest organizers rail against coalition’s budget, ‘deceptive negotiations,’ as rallies resume after pause due to Gaza rocket dangers last week

By ToI Staff

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right) walks with Matityahu Dan, chairman of the Ateret Cohanim organization, after a meeting at Jerusalem's Western Wall, May 7, 2023. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

May 17, 2023, 7:58 pm

In fresh coalition upheaval, Otzma Yehudit boycotts Knesset votes over budget dispute

Party demands more funds for Negev and Galilee, handing plenum wins to opposition; coalition official blasts Ben Gvir: ‘Cares more for media coverage than maintaining government’

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

Opposition leader Yair Lapid holds a press conference on the upcoming state budget, in Tel Aviv, May 16, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

May 16, 2023, 2:35 pm

Lapid: Use NIS 13.7b in discretionary budget funds to lower VAT, offer job training

Opposition leader slams upcoming state budget as not doing enough to promote growth, attacks controversial municipal tax spread plan; budget expected to pass by end of May

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 15, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)

May 15, 2023, 8:03 pm

Municipal tax plan advanced for Knesset OK; opposition brands it state-backed ‘theft’

Smotrich slams ‘irresponsible’ strike action by some local councils against plan, which will take funds from richer cities to fund poorer ones; Gantz brands move discriminatory

By Carrie Keller-Lynn

Hizky Sivak of the Emek Hefer Regional Council is taken out by Knesset guards from a Finance Committee meeting and a vote on the Arnona Fund at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on May 15, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

May 15, 2023, 4:41 pm

Lawmakers scuffle in Knesset over municipal tax plan as Arab communities join strike

Smotrich looking to compel cities to end strike that has shuttered schools and services in dozens of towns; Labor MK threatens to go to court, says move discriminates against Arabs

By ToI Staff

View of an empty classroom at a school in Tel Aviv, during a general strike of some municipalities and local authorities, on May 15, 2023. (Flash90)

May 15, 2023, 9:36 am

Several major municipalities strike over coalition plan to redistribute local taxes

Cites including Tel Aviv, Holon, Ashdod, Haifa shut schools, halt garbage collection and welfare services; ex-welfare minister: Many areas need aid, but not with ‘ugly hijacking’

By ToI Staff