Netanyahu government approves cutting new budgets from education, welfare, and transportation to fund its open-ended wars
The Israeli government approved a comprehensive 4.9% cut to the 2026 budget to fund urgent military purchases worth 2.6 billion shekels, including cuts to education, transportation, welfare, and health, a week after cutting 1.03 billion shekels from the Arab community budget.
The Israeli government, in its session on Sunday, October 18, 2026, approved an additional comprehensive 4.9% cut to the 2026 budget to fund 'urgent military purchases' worth 2.6 billion shekels. This decision comes a week after it approved a cut of 1.03 billion shekels from the budget allocated for the development of the Arab community. Under the decision, 354 million shekels will be cut from the education and higher education budgets, 423 million shekels from the Transportation Ministry budget, and 224 million shekels from the so-called 'National Security' Ministry. The cuts will also affect the Welfare and Health ministries by 138 million and 109 million shekels respectively, after their requests for exemption were rejected. The discussion of the decision took only a few minutes, despite the controversy it raises. The cut still requires approval from the Knesset Finance Committee. Ministers are expected to later vote on an additional 0.5% cut starting in 2027 to fund the plan for prosecuting prisoners of the 'Elite' unit, worth 776 million shekels, despite professional warnings that the prison service will not be ready before 2028.