Opposition leader Yair Lapid said at the start of his faction meeting that "the Cabinet approved the occupation of Gaza last night, but no one yet knows what these words mean. There is one thing we do know: this war costs a lot of money." Lapid noted that "during wartime, the government can ask citizens to tighten their belts, but on one condition: that it does the same itself, that it cuts its own spending." He added that "a government that doesn't touch funds for draft dodgers and funds for political operatives has no right to demand its citizens pay more and more."