Israel Cabinet slated to vote on 2024 war budget this week -Finance Minister
Israel's cabinet is set to approve a 2024 wartime budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday, after ministers approved 9 billion shekels ($2.5 billion) in financial support for military reservists, Reuters reports.
"The state of Israel puts the reservists and their families at the center and this is the anchor of the budget for 2024 that we will deliver this weekend," Smotrich said in a joint statement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Israel last year approved a two-year budget for 2023 and 2024, but the war against Hamas in Gaza has shaken government finances, requiring budget changes and additional spending.
In December parliament approved a special war budget for 2023 of nearly 30 billion shekels to help fund the war and compensate those impacted by Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks that sparked the war.
Smotrich's spokesman clarified that the budget vote would likely take place on Thursday but offered no further details.
