Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday welcomed the adoption of a very important budget law today, while criticizing the Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, for trying to defeat it.
“Today is an important day and a great victory for the coalition,” Netanyahu said in a statement, asserting that the law passed by a very narrow majority was crucial for Israel’s economy and security.
Against the advice of doctors, the prime minister left the hospital recovery room and rushed to the Knesset to vote on what turned out to be the decisive vote for this finance law, ultimately adopted by 59 votes against 58.
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“We have been running the country together for two years and we have accomplished great things in many areas, starting with Iran. We have great opportunities ahead of us in terms of cooperation with our American friends,” Netanyahu said, in an allusion to new US President Donald Trump.
He then turned against Ben Gvir.
“There is nothing more irresponsible than splitting the coalition at this precise moment, risking the overthrow of the right-wing government,” Netanyahu added.
The prime minister said he was working closely with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to “lead Israel’s economy.” “I support [Smotrich] and I demand that all coalition partners adopt this budget as our one and only budget. »
Ben Gvir was at the center of an aggressive public campaign in Smotrich saying he opposed raising the salaries of underpaid police officers. The finance minister argued that the police already benefited from additional funds and that it would be financially irresponsible to increase them further.
Contrary to the comments of Ben Gvir, which led him and members of his Otzma Yehudit party, a member of the coalition, to oppose this law, Netanyahu said “The budget of the Israeli police has been significantly increased over the past two years – and rightly so.”
“The Minister of Homeland Security’s budget also increased significantly in the 2025 budget.”
Netanyahu further added: “I expect all members of the coalition, including Minister Ben Gvir, to stop… endangering this right-wing government at a crucial moment in Israel’s history.” It is possible and even necessary to reconcile the members of the coalition without shaking it, and that is what we will endeavor to do. »
Itamar Ben Gvir (left) in the Knesset on December 31, 2024 (Noam Moscowitz / Office of the Knesset Speaker)
Smotrich welcomed the adoption of the law and criticized Ben Gvir for voting against it.
“We have just passed a responsible and important law for the Israeli economy and the war budget. Unfortunately, Minister Ben Gvir chose to deal a blow to the Prime Minister and pull him from his hospital bed, to jeopardize the existence of the government and the economy, all for political purposes,” declared Smotrich in a press release.
He thanked Netanyahu for his “support, his action, his determination and his sense of responsibility.”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the government for putting on a “horror show” for the new year. “All at the expense of the population,” he wrote on X.
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