Yair Lapid urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene the Knesset defense budget committee and immediately release NIS 11 billion for urgent IDF procurement, saying the transfer can be done legally without reopening the state budget or raising taxes. He conditioned his support on canceling coalition transfers he says finance haredi draft evasion. Likud disputed Lapid's account, while Defense Minister Israel Katz said the funds are available but require formal Knesset legislation. The 2026 budget sets a NIS 699 billion cap, with the Defense Ministry budget near NIS 142 billion (up ~NIS 32 billion due to the war) and nearly NIS 6 billion in coalition funds.
Lapid Demands Immediate Release Of NIS 11 Billion For IDF, Conditions Support On Cancelling Haredi Transfers
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with opposition head Yair Lapid, June 17, 2025 (photo credit: PRIME MINISTER
Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convene the Knesset committee that oversees the defense budget and immediately approve the release of NIS 11 billion for urgent Israel Defense Forces procurement.
Lapid said there is a legal route to transfer the funds to the IDF without reopening the state budget or imposing tax increases, and he pressed lawmakers to convene the joint defense budget committee to enact the release.
"I am once again calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu: We have a legal way to resolve the issue of the IDF's immediate stockpiles without breaking the budget framework and raising taxes," Lapid said, urging swift action to free funds that have been waiting for months.
Lapid reiterated that he supports strengthening the defense establishment, but he made his backing conditional: he has previously said he will only support transfers if coalition funds currently earmarked for certain haredi (ultra-Orthodox) allocations — which he characterizes as financing draft evasion — are canceled. He also warned that an alternative plan proposed by the prime minister could amount to a hidden tax increase.
Yair Lapid walks next then-opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, November 8, 2021 (credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)
The appeal followed a security briefing on Monday attended by Lapid and Netanyahu. According to Lapid, the prime minister asked that the state budget be reopened to allocate additional funds to the defense establishment.
The Knesset is on summer recess ahead of October elections, but it can be called into session under specific conditions. Lapid's cooperation as an opposition leader would therefore be significant in advancing any measure to release the funds.
Netanyahu's Likud party pushed back after the meeting, accusing Lapid of "misleading the public about the defense budget" and insisting the government can increase defense spending without raising taxes. Defense Minister Israel Katz urged Lapid to back the funding, saying the country's economic situation is sound and the necessary sums are available but must be formalized through Knesset legislation. Katz denied that the request is tied to tax increases or other budgetary offsets.
Budget Context
The 2026 state budget, approved in March, set an expenditure cap of roughly NIS 699 billion. The Defense Ministry's budget was initially set at nearly NIS 142 billion and has been reported to have increased by about NIS 32 billion because of the war. The approved 2026 budget also included nearly NIS 6 billion in coalition funds, with several hundred million shekels directed to haredi institutions — the transfers Lapid says should be canceled if his support is to be secured.
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