The Israeli government is expected to approve the additional funding on Sunday after the ministerial committee responsible for procurement endorsed the proposal last Thursday.

The 1 billion shekels will not increase the overall state budget. About 850 million shekels will be transferred from funds allocated for technology investment and employment programs under the Economy and Industry Ministry, while the remaining 150 million will come from previously approved budget decisions that have not yet been implemented this year.

The funds will be used for urgent military procurement, although details of the purchases have not been made public.

The transfer would raise Israel’s defense budget to a record 184 billion shekels. It comes days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he plans to increase additional defense spending over the next decade by 50 billion shekels, bringing the planned increase to 400 billion shekels instead of the previously announced 350 billion.

Pressure on the state budget

Netanyahu’s announcement was reportedly made without prior consultation with senior officials at the Finance Ministry or the Bank of Israel.

Several Finance Ministry officials expressed concern over the proposed increase, warning that implementing it would likely require higher taxes and further cuts to civilian ministry budgets.

Meanwhile, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the legal opinion attached to the funding proposal said the purchases could not proceed without government approval.

The opinion argued that failing to approve the funding source would prevent urgent procurement from going ahead and therefore called for the measure to be approved without delay.

Although the legal assessment noted the sensitivity of the current period ahead of Knesset elections, it found no legal obstacle to approving the funding, citing its security importance and urgency.