A new Defense Ministry information booklet indicates that Israel's defense spending has declined by 1.2 percent since 2000, where Iran increased its defense spending by 25 percent, Egypt by 28.8 percent, and Syria by 37.7 percent.
These details are based on the elements of the Israeli budget which are open to the public.
According to the data, the 2007 budget stands at NIS 33.15 billion (USD 7.7 billion) compared to NIS 33.54 (USD 7.8 billion) in 2006, not including expenditures regarding the Seam Line area and the disengagement.
In reaction to the war in the north, the defense budget was allocated a one-time increase of NIS 8.2 billion (USD 1.9 billion) which will be spread over three years.
The booklet also allows making a comparison between Israel's defense budget and the budgets of other nations around the region and the world. The data indicates that while Israel's defense spending has declined by 2.1 percent between 2000 and 2006, China has increased their defense spending by 69.8 percent.
Decrease in defense estbalishment's manpower
Even countries like Norway (11.5 percent) and France (5.4 percent) have increased their spending. Every country in the region, including Jordan (16.6 percent) Saudi Arabia (26.5 percent) and Egypt (28.8 percent) have all increased their spending.
In addition to the budgetary figures, the booklet also indicates a decrease in the manpower of the Israeli defense estbalishment: From 1998 to 2006 the IDF has released 21 percent of all career officers, and 27 percent of all civilians employed by the IDF between 1990 and 2006.
The booklet also indicates budgetary allocations to the Seam Line area (NIS 1.3 billion - USD 303.3 million), rehabilitation for disabled veterans (NIS 2.65 billion - USD 618 million), and delegations and foreign missions (NIS 169 million - USD 39.5 million), and NIS 12 million (USD 2.8 million) allocated to the operations and logistics branches which includes all communications expenditures.
Another budgetary allocation which has increased steadily over the years is the expenditures on the IDF's disabled veterans. In 1974, the total number of disabled veterans stood at 15,520; in 2000 the number reached 49,379, and as of October 2006 stands on 51,429.
The funds allocated to the disabled veterans include NIS 1.8 million (USD 419,678) on wheelchairs, NIS 21 million (USD 4.8 million) on psychiatric treatment and NIS 19 million (USD 4.4 million) on psychological treatment.