The government has approved a state budget for 2025, in the amount of approximately 605B shekels.
Opposing the proposal were Miki Zohar (Likud), Idit Silman (Likud), Avi Dichter (Likud), and Itamar Ben-Gvir (Otzma Yehudit), Itshak Waserlauf (Otzma Yehudit), and Amichai Eliyahu (Otzma Yehudit).
Minister of Housing Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of United Torah Judaism, was absent without leaving a voting note. Recently, Goldknopf threatened, "If there is no change to the haredi draft law, there will be no budget." The budget bill will be submitted to the Knesset at the beginning of December 2024 and approved at the end of January 2025.
Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich stated: "This budget is good news for reservists who left everything and went out to defend the home. We approved a giant package of an additional 9 billion NIS for the reservist program. We salute the country's heroes. The main goal in the 2025 budget is maintaining state security and achieving victory on all fronts, while maintaining the resilience of the Israeli economy."
"This budget will assist and support the needs of the war so that it will lead to victory that will allow the strong Israeli economy to grow and thrive for many years. It is a responsible and assembled budget where the entire Israeli society bears the burden, especially the public sector and government offices, so the burden is shared among everyone without overloading one sector or another. The economic plan includes reforms in three main areas: streamlining the public sector, combating the black market, and acceleration plans for the economy in the fields of hi-tech, employment of haredim, and encouraging the housing market, among others."
"We will win the battle on the front lines together with God's help, and also the economic battle. I thank Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ministers for showing the necessary responsibility required of us at this time. Economic responsibility at this time is our guarantee for a secure future for the Israeli economy and the citizens of Israel."
Shlomi Heisler, Director General of the Ministry of Finance, said, "The Israeli economy is in a challenging period since the beginning of the war, and is doing so impressively, yet there is a necessity at this time to manage the state budget responsibly and meticulously, creating a trend of a declining debt-to-GDP ratio in the near future. The approved budget balances the need to support the ongoing war effort, both security-wise and civil-wise, for the reservists and rehabilitation of the north and south, while maintaining fiscal stability which is a strategic asset for the State of Israel, allowing us to face both future security and economic challenges. Additionally, the budget shows growth in the hi-tech and real estate sectors and structural changes to streamline the public sector, significant combat against the black market, and tax reforms. The current budget is not simple, but adhering to it and continuous responsible management will lead to rapid renewed growth."