General Staff urges against defense budget cuts
Top IDF officials warn Netanyahu against cuts, say defense establishment won't be able properly meet strategic challenges. PM insists budget frame stands
Members of the IDF's General Staff Forum have recently warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the ramifications of a possible cut in the defense budget, Ynet learned Wednesday.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the officers who participated in the meeting, including various IDF commands chiefs and senior sector commanders, warned the prime minister that any budget cuts – and even leaving the budget as it is – will seriously impair the IDF's ability to meet the various strategic challenges Israel will be facing in the future.
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One of the GOCs even went as far as saying that he "feared for Israel's safety," adding that "this is not the time to cut the defense budget. If anything it should be increased. We don't want to find ourselves back in the days before the Second Lebanon War."
Despite the warning, Netanyahu reportedly made it clear that the current budget frame would not be exceeded, saying that given the recession looming over Europe, the government must exercise great fiscal responsibility.
"In 2006 there was a leadership problem, not a resource one," Netanyahu said. "The political echelon did not have the right perception of battle and it failed to give the military clear orders."
The Treasury and the Defense Ministry have been locking horns on budgetary issues in the recent weeks. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said that the defense establishment needs a NIS 7-8 billion increase to its budget, while Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz has accused the Defense Ministry of not exercised due transparency with its funds.
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