Knesset Member Ephraim Sneh, a former deputy defense minister, said that he planned to vote against the State Budget proposal for the first time since becoming a member of the coalition a decade ago during a press conference on Tuesday.
The Labor MK expressed his concern for the future protection of the home front, saying "there is no budget for supplying gas masks (to Israel's citizens), and I fear that their production will be stopped entirely in the beginning of 2008."
According to him, the budget does provide for the protection of Israeli communities in close proximity to Gaza Strip from rocket attacks and "millions of shekels required for minimal IDF activity are missing from it."
Sneh went on to say that "the formulation of a contingency plan to counter the Iranian threat is being delayed due a lack of funding," adding that "only the cabinet members, who are scheduled to vote on the State Budget this coming Thursday, can prevent a severe failure".
The MK said the problems he presented could be resolved by allocating an additional NIS 1.5 billion ($385 million), which he claims constitutes "a mere 0.5% of the entire State Budget for a country that is ending the year with a (budget) surplus."
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