The vote that was supposed to take place today, Sunday, at the cabinet meeting on a significant cut in ministerial budgets has been postponed for the time being, it was decided this morning.
The budget cut called for by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is meant to alot an additional 22 billion shekels towards police salaries. However, the proposal has been met with outrage from a number of ministers, including Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Welfare Minister Haim Katz, Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, and Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.
Minister Erdan has said that the planned cut in his ministry's budget would lead to the dismissal of some 700 policemen. Deputy Health Minister MK Litzman expressed his opposition in a letter to the prime minister, in which he stated that "public expenditure on health in Israel is the lowest in the West, and we must act to increase it. A cut at this time, with the onset of winter sickness and rising loads in the wards, will lead to a fatal blow to the system."
The vote on the cut was considered by many to be the first test of a faltering government after the resignation of the defense minister. However, as mentioned, today it was decided to postpone the vote.