News Brief Prime minister, finance minister and defense minister reach an agreement on 2022 defense budget

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, along with Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, met last night and agreed on a defense budget as part of the larger national budget currently being established.

Because of the political crisis, Israel has been without a budget for almost two years.

According to their agreement, the Defense Ministry budget for 2022 will be approximately $17 billion.

In addition, the IDF will be funded and equipped to face current military threats in the region, with an emphasis on acquisitions from defense companies that operate in the nation’s periphery.

Notable aspects of the agreement include allocation of a $227 million budget to Home Front Command, the advancement of an IDF mental healthcare reform and full budgeting for the 'From Uniform to Studies' program.

The three ministers welcomed the agreement and urged all government officials to promptly reach a consensus in order to approve the state budget within the given timeframe.