A proposal to divide the defense budget between civilian and classified matters, each to be overseen by different bodies, is being reviewed in the wake of charges that IDF troops lacked food and basic necessities while fighting in southern Lebanon.
Recent budget cuts in the military sector have been criticized by the rank and file as being at least partly responsible for the difficulties faced by combat soldiers during the Re-engagement War.
The plan supported by Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz (pictured) would significantly reduce the Defense Ministry’s control over discretionary funding for military expenditures. The defense establishment opposes the plan.
The proposal, which was included in the Financial Arrangements Law for 2007, calls for the Knesset Finance Committee to oversee and approve civilian expenditures such as salaries, Army Radio expenses, civil defense and military government in Judea and Samaria, rehabilitation expenses for wounded soldiers, pensions and various civilian expenses.
Supervision of classified military expenditures would remain under the purview of the Defense Ministry, but its ability to make unapproved changes to its budget would change drastically. The margin within which the ministry would obtain retroactive approval for budget changes would drop from its current NIS 87 million to only NIS 15 million. Most ministries are already required to operate within a maximum NIS 1.9 million for unapproved changes.
Recent budget cuts in the military sector have been criticized by the rank and file as being at least partly responsible for the difficulties faced by combat soldiers during the Re-engagement War.
The plan supported by Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz (pictured) would significantly reduce the Defense Ministry’s control over discretionary funding for military expenditures. The defense establishment opposes the plan.
The proposal, which was included in the Financial Arrangements Law for 2007, calls for the Knesset Finance Committee to oversee and approve civilian expenditures such as salaries, Army Radio expenses, civil defense and military government in Judea and Samaria, rehabilitation expenses for wounded soldiers, pensions and various civilian expenses.
Supervision of classified military expenditures would remain under the purview of the Defense Ministry, but its ability to make unapproved changes to its budget would change drastically. The margin within which the ministry would obtain retroactive approval for budget changes would drop from its current NIS 87 million to only NIS 15 million. Most ministries are already required to operate within a maximum NIS 1.9 million for unapproved changes.