The Knesset plenum on Wednesday approved the updated state budget for 2024. 62 MKs voted for the budget while 55 objected.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) criticized the budget approval and said, "The most sectarian, disconnected, and careless budget in the history of the state passed on the votes of the cowards. Don't give up. This is the final budget that this government will pass.
"For the next budget there will be a government that will pass a budget that cares for the Israeli middle class, the reservists, business owners, career officers, and young parents," Lapid added.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party) made clear that he would not give in to the threats of Minister of Agriculture Avi Dichter and other Likud MKs not to vote for the budget.
MK Amit Halevi (Likud) claimed he would not support the budget unit the promotion of his bill to oversee educational institutions is guaranteed. Speaking with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News, Halevi stated: "Terrorists who sympathize with terrorism won't be teachers in Israel." After the intervention of Education Committee Chairman MK Yosef Taieb MK Halevi announced that he would support the budget.