Defense Minister and Labor party chairman Ehud Barak set a "red line" beyond which he said his Knesset Members will not go to support the 2008 budget on Thursday.
"This concerns study grants, single mothers, mothers who receive alimony payments, bereaved families, disabled IDF veterans, pensioners and millions more," said Barak.
The two issues of major concern are the government's plan to cut welfare allowances by four percent – an annual event that has since 2002 steadily reduced the living standard for Israelis already under the poverty line – and its intent to freeze stipends.