The Israeli parliament (Knesset) provisionally approved the draft budget for 2026 today, giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a temporary political reprieve and averting an immediate move toward early elections.
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Lawmakers voted 62 in favor and 55 against the 662-billion-shekel ($214.43 billion) spending plan, excluding debt servicing. The draft also sets a budget deficit ceiling of 3.9% of GDP for the year, according to Reuters.
Despite this preliminary approval, the budget still faces a difficult path to final ratification amid sharp divisions within the ruling coalition. Under Israeli law, the budget must be passed definitively by the end of March, or the Knesset will automatically dissolve, triggering early elections.
Tensions escalated during the session, as some legislators from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties (Haredim) abstained from voting, protesting the failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from mandatory military service.
Meanwhile, other right-wing coalition partners and opposition members insist on sharing the burden of military service, especially after two years of fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, which claimed nearly 1,000 Israeli soldiers’ lives. This “conscription law” remains the biggest potential threat to Netanyahu’s government stability until the budget’s final approval.
