Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Photo: Dana Koppel
IDF: Budget cut will hurt readiness for war
National security cabinet to discuss intended NIS 480 million cut to defense budget. IDF warns cuts will damage army's readiness for war
The debate is heating up over whether to cut NIS 480 million from the security budget, ahead of the national security cabinet meeting Wednesday morning.
Officials in the Prime Minister's Office however say the money is needed more elsewhere, "for example securing the Gaza perimeter, strengthening the north and education reforms."
The intended budget cuts, according to a senior IDF official, would damage Israel's readiness for war or any other threatening scenario.
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The national security cabinet is meeting on the issue upon Defense Minister Ehud Barak's request.
"The government has the right to make cuts, but it must understand their significance," a senior IDF officer told Ynet.
"The cuts would be at the expense of air force, navy and ground forces training, inventory and equipment, and the army's readiness for war or any other scenario."
On Sunday the cabinet discussed snipping NIS 1.2 billion from most of the government ministries - the bulk of which would be taken from the Defense Ministry.
After Labor members voted against the cuts Sunday, it was decided that half the sum would be taken from the ministries, while the other half would be taken from the government's reserves.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, who demanded that the cuts be made without tapping into reserve funds, in the end gave in to the idea.
"Such cuts prevent flexibility. There are regular expenses which can't be affected. What will be most affected is drafting reservists, reducing training, and equipment and supplies. These are exactly the things that were on our agenda to improve after last summer's war," the officer explained.
He noted that the IDF could be run more efficiently, but it couldn't do so in the middle of the year. The officer pointed out that this was the second large-scale cut to the IDF's budget in the past year. The first one, in February, amounted to NIS 280 million.
The officer did admit, however, that a small portion remained from additional budget allotted to the security establishment in December 2006.
The defense minister, IDF chief of staff, the army's head of planning and the IDF chief's financial advisor will debrief the security cabinet on the significance of the cuts during Wednesday's meeting.
