Israel’s cabinet on Sunday approved a 3.4 billion shekel ($923 million) increase to the 2024 state budget to help fund evacuees through the end of the year.
Tens of thousands of Israelis in the north have moved into hotels following daily rocket attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanon since Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip began on October 7.
The decision to increase the budget also includes residents of towns adjacent to the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli Cabinet calls “conflict areas.”
Israel’s Finance Ministry said 525 million shekels ($143.5 million) of the total budget had returned to state coffers after previous spending cuts, while another 200 million shekels ($54.66 million) would go to fund the army’s reserve forces.
controversial
It is noteworthy that the allocations for the displaced Israelis were a source of dispute between Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Budget Commissioner Yogev Gradus.
Smotrich wrote to Commissioner Gradus last week, according to Globes, “As long as you do not identify with my economic policy and believe you are having difficulty implementing it, you are welcome to step down. As long as you are in your position, you are my subordinate and will follow my policies and instructions.”
The clash comes after Smotrich demanded that Gradus organize an “off-budget item” to fund compensation for displaced people from northern Israel, while Gradus insists that the 2024 budget has already been passed, and to make retroactive changes, other budget items must be cut.
