Israel to suspend aid to Holocaust survivors, families of fallen soldiers, wounded soldiers in 2025 budget
By E.C. Browne
Per an article in The Times of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet met on Thursday to deliberate the 2025 state budget, which allocates substantial increases to defense spending while making cuts to healthcare, education, and social services.
Despite some opposition to specific elements, ministers were expected to approve the 289-page budget, with its detailed appendices, either by Thursday night or Friday morning. The government faces a deadline of March to pass the budget in the Knesset. The proposal includes a significant boost for the Defense Ministry, which is set to receive NIS 102 billion ($27.2 billion). However, this figure could rise to as much as NIS 150 billion ($40.1 billion) following negotiations between the Defense and Finance Ministries, according to Calcalist.
Addressing the cabinet on Thursday afternoon, Netanyahu connected the nation’s war efforts with economic stability, stating that “we cannot have a strong army if we have no way to finance it… but the economy also depends on security. If there is an ability to damage our cities, our industry, then obviously our economic capacity would be affected.”
Netanyahu cautioned that although the new budget will bolster security forces, it will necessitate cuts in other areas. “If you give to one place, you unfortunately have to take from another place,” he said. “There are ways to do this.”
Speaking after Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich admitted there are sacrifices in the budget.
“The economic effort is an inseparable part of the war effort,” said the far-right politician. “We are all together in unity… You will see that the costs are spread over everyone equally. No one feels that their world has collapsed on them.” Once the war is won, there will be “fantastic returns” for the economy, he added.
The proposed state budget for 2025, presented to the government, sets expenditures at NIS 605 billion ($163 billion), which represents an increase of about NIS 18 billion ($4.8 billion) over the current year and NIS 61 billion ($16.3 billion) more than the original 2024 budget before adjustments for wartime expenses.
To cover an estimated war cost of NIS 250 billion ($66.8 billion), the Finance Ministry is advocating for deep spending cuts and tax hikes to address a projected fiscal shortfall of NIS 40 billion ($10.7 billion) in 2025. Planned measures include freezes on tax rates, welfare benefits, and public sector wages.
Consequently, Israelis are likely to face higher effective tax burdens, while certain government allowances may be reduced. This includes freezes on inflation adjustments for benefits to the elderly, people with disabilities, Holocaust survivors, and families of fallen soldiers, despite anticipated rises in consumer prices.
In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, the Defense Ministry warned that these cuts would negatively impact wounded soldiers and the families of the fallen.
In a scornful public criticism, the ministry said that it opposed “any violation of the rights of the IDF wounded and members of the bereaved families, certainly in a time of war and in a year when, unfortunately, the circle of those affected has painfully expanded.”
Eli Ben-Shem, chairman of the Yad Labanim organization, which represents bereaved families, also sent a letter to Netanyahu and Smotrich to voice opposition to the decision, stating that his organization was “dumbfounded and shocked by the government’s decision to freeze the benefits of the bereaved families,” Ynet reported.
