Israel's cabinet approves 2026 budget with a hefty $35 billion for defense

Israel's cabinet has approved the 2026 state budget, the prime minister's office said on Friday, including 112 billion shekels ($35 billion) for defense, an increase from the 90 billion shekels budgeted in an earlier draft.

The budget now heads to parliament for an initial vote and will face an uphill battle for approval as Israel's government has become increasingly polarized. By law it must be approved by March or an election would be triggered.

The past two years has seen parties in the ruling coalition splintering over the war in Gaza, the ceasefire that has halted it, and demands by ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties to exempt Jewish seminary students from mandatory military service.

Ministers began a marathon session on Thursday, and Defense Minister Israel Katz's office announced the rise in the budget for the Israeli Defense Forces on Friday.

"We will continue to act decisively to reinforce the IDF and to fully address the needs of the fighters and to reduce the burden on reservists - in order to ensure the security of the State of Israel on every front," his office quoted him as saying.


Reuters