Live broadcast from the Knesset (Knesset channel)
After resolving the crises with Otzma Yehudit and Agudat Yisrael and the discussions that began yesterday, the Knesset plenum will convene tonight (Tuesday) and the marathon of votes on the budget will begin. At the same time, hundreds of people are demonstrating at the entrance to Jerusalem to protest the budget, as an opening to events that protest leaders called "the night of looting." The demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the night in parallel with the votes in the plenum.
Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver a statement to the media. Immediately following the prime minister's statement, opposition leader Yair Lapid and state camp chairman Benny Gantz will also make statements.
The marathon voting will begin immediately after that and is expected to continue until tomorrow evening, unless the opposition removes some of its reservations and brings forward the final vote on approving the budget to noon or morning. The state budget stands at NIS 484 billion for 2023 and NIS 514 billion for 2024.
That's hundreds of votes in the plenum, late at night and early in the morning. In the past, there have been cases of Knesset members confused in voting, which created chaos for a coalition that had to amend the votes or move on with defeat against the opposition. This time, the coalition enjoys a majority of eight Knesset members against the opposition, assuming that all Knesset members vote in favor of the budget and do not abstain or oppose.
The Prime Minister and Likud ministers at the Knesset plenum two months ago (Photo: Flash 90, Jonathan Zindel)
Yesterday, Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir reached an agreement on Otzma Yehudit's demand to add hundreds of millions of shekels to the Ministry of the Negev and Galilee. Meanwhile, NIS 250 million will be allocated to the Ministry of the Negev and Galilee from budget surpluses of government ministries in 2023. In doing so, the parties put an end to the crisis over the issue, and Otzma Yehudit members pledged to support the budget.
Earlier yesterday, the prime minister also reached agreements with Agudat Israel chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf. The two agreed that NIS 250 million of the state budget would be transferred to Haredi educational institutions at the end of the year. That's almost half the amount the faction demanded. Thus, a solution to the crisis, which Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also attended, was achieved at the meeting, without the budget framework being breached, and without it being opened.
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