Barak: Creative budget needed
Photo: Michal Shalev
Barak fears economic crisis in Defense Ministry
Finance Ministry slashes defense funds with new State Budget, demands dismissal of 1,000 officers
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that the budget allotted to his ministry by the Finance Ministry is insufficient. "We are headed towards an unnecessary crisis in relation to the budget," he said.
On Sunday the government approved Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz's bill to keep the State Budget expansion rate at 1.7%. Labor and Shas ministers objected to the bill.
The Defense Ministry was devastated by the cuts the Finance Ministry had imposed upon its budget, which include a demand to dismiss 1,000 career officers and NCOs. The ministry also demanded the Defense Ministry raise the age of retirement and limit mandatory army service.
Speaking at the Agritech Exhibition in Tel Aviv the defense minister said, "We stand before an economic crisis the likes of which has not been seen for 80 years, and Israel's government must take action."
He added that in times of economic instability "it is necessary to invest in infrastructure, to fight unemployment effectively, and to ensure a safety net for pensioners".
Barak said the government needed to be creative with the budget. "We need an extensive policy beyond, and I stress, beyond the 1.7% limit," he said. "We need the budget to provide for defense challenges."
Hanan Greenberg contributed to this report
