Finance Minister Silvan Shalom has declined the army\'s request for an additional two billion shekels to be included in the state budget for the year 2001. With the end-of-March deadline for the passing of the annual budget in sight, Shalom told Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer that adjustments could be made at a later date, but that at this juncture, he is more concerned with passing the budget on time. Failure to pass the budget by month\'s end would launch new elections in accordance with state law. Labor MK Avi Yechezkel said today, \"The Finance Ministry has apparently not yet woken up to the fact that the ongoing violence requires more money.\"