The Knesset Approaches Approval of the 2026 Budget: Enhancing Security, Increases for Haredim, and Reductions in Civil Services

SadaNews: The Israeli Knesset is expected to vote tonight (Sunday-Monday) on the state budget for 2026, as the war on Iran enters its second month, with a direction towards a significant increase in security spending at the expense of civil services, alongside raising allocations for the Haredim and adding budgets for ministries that the Ministry of Finance had previously deemed "unnecessary."

According to the data presented, the Haredi parties that had threatened not to support the budget unless the draft exemption law was passed, have received significant increases, as the budget for the independent education network affiliated with "Yahdut HaTorah" will increase by approximately 460 million shekels (a 22% increase), bringing its total budget to over 2.1 billion shekels. Meanwhile, the "Ma’ayan HaChituch HaTorani" network affiliated with "Shas" will receive about 370 million shekels more (a 30% increase), raising its total to 1.2 billion shekels, compared to an increase of no more than 8% for government education funding.

The budget also includes significant increases for the Ministry of Settlement led by Orit Strook, which will receive an addition of about 190 million shekels (a 33% increase), along with substantial increases for other ministries such as the Ministry of Heritage, the Ministry of Diaspora, and the Ministry of Jerusalem and Jewish Heritage.

Conversely, the budget includes cuts in other areas, including a 30% reduction in allocations to encourage employment for targeted demographic groups, particularly the Haredim and Arabs, a 16% reduction in support for the commercial sector, in addition to a 15% cut in the budget for the Authority for Economic Development of Minorities, which is responsible for supporting, developing, and integrating the Arab community economically.

Knesset member Vladimir Bliak said, "The 2026 budget expands and enhances the policy of drying up the official education system in favor of excessive funding for Haredi education networks that do not teach core subjects," adding that "the government continues to fund draft evaders in religious institutions, preventing their integration into the army or the job market, a move that represents financial negligence that undermines the future of the economy."

Data shows that the budget amounts to about 850 billion shekels, with 21% allocated for security and 24% for servicing public debt, which leaves only about 55% for funding civil services, amid a shift of resources towards security spending at the expense of these services, while continuing to direct a large part of the spending in favor of sectors supportive of the government.

The budget also includes reductions exceeding 400 million shekels in funding for building new classrooms, despite high overcrowding in schools, alongside data indicating that one-third of Israelis do not have access to protected places, while Israel is subjected to missile attacks from multiple fronts.

Additional analysis indicates that the government has relied in recent years on two parallel tracks: allocating more than 20 billion shekels as coalition funds of a sectoral nature since 2023, against ad-hoc cuts of about 12 billion shekels in essential services such as health, education, labor, welfare, and transportation, to fund the increase in security spending without affecting political commitments.

Researcher Mickey Field said, "The government relies on distorted priorities that allocate resources according to political and sectoral loyalty considerations, instead of investing in addressing the cost of living, education, health, and protection," considering that "allocating 20 billion shekels for coalition funds promotes evasion from service and work instead of addressing it."

Data indicates continued increases in the budgets of what are described as "unnecessary ministries", whose total allocations over the past four years reached about 4.9 billion shekels, while it is expected that their budget in 2026 alone will reach about one billion shekels, excluding potential additional increases throughout the year.