The Knesset plenum approved the 2026 state budget early Monday morning by a vote of 62 to 55, and later also approved the Arrangements Law.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on social media following the vote, “The most astonishing thing is to see at 1:34 a.m. in the Knesset plenum how proud the coalition is that it is looting the State of Israel and channeling the money to the corrupt and the draft-dodgers. They are not Zionists, they are not nationalists - they are thieves and extortionists."
During the voting, the opposition experienced an embarrassing moment after haredi Knesset members submitted reservations regarding additional funding for haredi education.
Opposition members failed to notice and voted in favor of the reservations, resulting in 109 Knesset members supporting the extra budgetary allocation for the haredi sector.
Coalition members clarified that this was not new funding, but rather approval for the use of hundreds of millions of shekels through a mechanism that bypasses the Attorney General’s directive, which had prohibited their use due to the draft law.
Lapid sharply attacked the coalition, stating, “Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the Knesset. Just now in the plenum, the coalition added hundreds of millions of shekels for the haredi parties at the last minute, beyond the budget framework!"
He added, “This is a pathetic gang of thieves, completely detached from the people, looting Israeli citizens while they are sheltering in bomb shelters."
Just before the vote on the budget began, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Lapid, and Finance Committee chairman MK Hanoch Milwidsky delivered concluding remarks.
In his speech, Smotrich painted an optimistic picture of the Israeli economy amid the ongoing war. Addressing the opposition, he said, “You promised the shekel would weaken - yet it is stronger than ever. You predicted the stock market would crash - yet it is only rising. Investments in high-tech are breaking records, unemployment is at a record low, and inflation is declining. Israel’s macroeconomic data is astonishing the world and beating all forecasts."
Smotrich emphasized that the core of the budget consists of tens of billions of shekels in additional funding for the defense system - a step he said would enable Israel to “dismantle and rebuild the Middle East."
He added that the budget also addresses the cost-of-living crisis by cutting taxes for working Israelis and imposing new taxes on bank profits.