Economy Minister Nir Barkat threatened to vote against the amended state budget in the Knesset and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office is threatening to fire him if he does, Channel 12 News’ Amit Segal reported on Sunday.
Barkat was absent from the Likud faction meeting on Sunday and, in the last few days, people close to him have said several times that he is not satisfied with the budget proposal.
Later, his office announced that he would be absent from the vote in the Knesset. The ministers of the National Unity Party will vote against the budget.
In last week's vote in the government, Barkat also threatened not to vote in favor of the budget. Associates of Barkat said that "this is a bad budget that does not provide a response for small and medium-sized businesses".
"There is no answer in the budget for the growth of the economy and there is no aid for businesses that will collapse," they added.