Knesset
KnessetOlivier Fitoussi/Flash 90

The Knesset Finance Committee on Wednesday night approved the state budget laws for the years 2021-2022 ahead of their second and third readings in the Knesset. After approving the numerical part of the budget the previous night, the committee ended the discussions on the budget and the Arrangements Law.

The verbal part of the laws passed after about six hours of heated debate between Knesset members from the coalition and the opposition.

Before the passage of the laws in the committee, thousands of reservations were submitted by representatives of the opposition, but the parties reached agreements regarding the allocation of coalition funds for various purposes at the request of the opposition, and as a result its representatives withdrew their reservations.

The budget laws approved on Wednesday night include a budget increase in the next two years at a total cost of 50 million shekels for a variety of projects related to Jewish culture and strengthening Jewish settlement in the mixed cities, 6 million shekels for counseling centers and emergency shelters for young people who leave Jewish Orthodoxy and 9.5 million shekels for strengthening aid centers for victims of sexual assault.

Finance Committee chairman MK Alex Kushnir summed up the discussion and said, "We went through a very, very significant process here, first of all for the state, because the last budget approved here was in March 2018 - this budget brings a lot of good tidings, along with an Arrangements Law with many reforms. I want to say thank you to both the coalition members and the members of the opposition who appeared here for every discussion, despite the disagreements today, I want to say thank you. Members of the coalition - no one here had any experience in approving a budget, and we did it on time and we did it well."