The Knesset approved a 2022 national budget on Friday by a vote of 59 to 56, giving a greater measure of fiscal stability to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's cross-partisan coalition government.
The $146 billion spending package was ratified after the Knesset passed on Thursday a belated 2021 budget ahead of a deadline which, if unmet, could have triggered a snap election.
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Coalition lawmakers celebrate the passing of the 2022 state budget in Knesset, November 5, 2021
(Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)
"We've put Israel back on track," Bennett said on Twitter.
Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who also celebrated his 58th birthday, rejoiced at the occasion.
"We took responsibility, we kept our promise. We passed the '21-'22 budget for the State of Israel and all of Israel's citizens," he said.
Some on the opposition, however, voiced their frustration after the coalition came on top following a months-long political battle.
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Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu during Knesset vote on 2022 state budget, November 4, 2021
(Photo: Knesset)
"It will not be easy to stay united around a goal that does not exist anymore," a Likud lawmaker said. "There's no way to actively overthrow the government unless it chooses to overthrow itself."
A political stalemate under his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, had meant that no budget had been approved in more than 3 and 1/2 years. Instead, Israel had a pro-rated version of the 2019 budget, an impediment to long-term economic planning.