TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / December 17, 2024
The Israeli business news website Globes said the budget includes an extra 10 billion shekels ($2.8 billion) that has been “set aside for if the war continues.”
The Israeli parliament has narrowly passed the 2025 Budget Bill in its first reading amid differences among the ruling coalition parties, the Anadolu news agency cited Israeli media.
The size of the budget for 2025 is 619 billion shekels ($171.5 billion), the highest in Israel’s history, including 117 billion shekels ($32.4 billion) for defense, the Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist reported, according to Anadolu.
On December 8, following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi said the Israeli forces were currently fighting on four fronts, namely Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and as of December 8 in Syria, the report added.
‘If war continues’
The Israeli business news website Globes said the budget includes an extra 10 billion shekels ($2.8 billion) that has been “set aside for if the war continues,” Anadolu reported.
The 2025 budget saw an increase of 105 billion shekels ($29.3 billion), compared to the 2024 budget, it said.
The budget bill was passed by a narrow majority of 59-57 as members of the Jewish Strength (Otzma Yehudit) party, led by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, voted against the bill, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Anadolu reported.
Under the Knesset procedures, the budget bill will be discussed by the Knesset Finance Committee before being represented to the Knesset plenum for its second and third readings, the report added.
Ongoing genocide
Meanwhile, the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip continued with the death toll among starved and besieged Palestinian civilians rising daily.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 45,059 Palestinians have been killed, and 107,041 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. However, Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Millions displaced
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern region.
