Israel's defense budget Kyzer weighs war costs

2025

Liel Kyzer's complete economic feature examines military funding and civilian services. She recalls Netanyahu's plan a year earlier for NIS 350 billion more over a decade, estimates the war's cost at NIS 405 billion with nearly NIS 300 billion for defense, and explains cuts, taxes and debt interest. She describes the 2026 defense budget's original NIS 112 billion, a NIS 32 billion wartime addition to about NIS 143 billion, a reported June decision for another NIS 40 billion and partial parliamentary approval a week and a half earlier. Amir Baram criticizes Treasury's temporary-accounting approach as damaging long-term force buildup; Amir Yaron calls controlling defense spending a challenge for the next government. Kyzer presents Treasury concerns about a lost decade, uses post-1973 spending shifts as context and compares alternative uses of the money. She argues for more regular troops and Haredi enlistment, more disciplined reserve call-ups and efficiency while insisting both military protection and civilian care are essential. The report's estimates, comparisons and proposals remain attributed, without conflating authorization, expenditure or future appropriations.

Liel Kyzer recalls Netanyahu's intention, announced a year earlier, to add NIS 350 billion to defense spending over a decade. She compares its scale with VAT and hospitals and examines military-security and civilian-services tradeoffs. This records the reported long-term proposal, without claiming that the entire amount was legally appropriated or spent.