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| Knesset approves 2023-2024 budget in all-night vote, patching coalition rift; with 64-55 vote in pocket, Bibi turns attention to judicial overhaul |
| 2023-05-25 |
| [IsraelTimes] Lawmakers speed through hundreds of objections to pass fiscal roadmap decried as ’reckless’ by critics opposed to earmarks for ultra-Orthodox Knesset politicians okayed state budgets for 2023 and 2024 in the early hours of Wednesday morning, ending months of coalition bickering over funding priorities that had threatened to upend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. After slogging through a seemingly unending roster of objections leveled by the opposition in hopes of delaying proceedings, MKs finally voted to approve the final parts of the two-year budget just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, capping a boisterous all-nighter in the plenum. Lawmakers voted 64-55 along coalition lines in the final two readings for the 2023 budget, the 2024 budget, and a bill setting funding policy. With a May 29 deadline to pass a budget or call new elections looming, Netanyahu scrambled in recent weeks to meet his coalition partners’ demands, clinching some deals Monday to pave the way for the vote, which began late Tuesday. The passage buys Netanyahu and his government another 18 months until the Knesset must approve another budget and puts to rest the coalition’s largest internal point of contention. As the Knesset began voting on the budget, thousands of protesters gathered in Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags and chanting against the government "looting" the state coffers. Demonstrators similarly criticized the budget for billions in grants to the ultra-Orthodox community, while allowing men in that community to avoid employment and military service. Netanyahu says judicial overhaul to return to agenda now that budget has passed The vote on the budget suggests he will also win on judicial reform despite 20 weeks of protests funded by the US State Department. Good. [IsraelTimes] Bucking speculation he may attempt to quietly bury the plan, PM says he hopes talks will yield compromise. |
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