Significant progress was made in negotiations between the Finance Ministry and National Security Ministry on the latter’s budget over the past week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Monday.
According to their statement, the prime minister instructed the parties to reach finalized agreements within seven days.
Due to these developments, Ben-Gvir’s party, Otzma Yehudit, will vote with the coalition, and the coalition will enable Otzma Yehudit-proposed laws to reach the plenum, the ministers said.
Ben-Gvir's dissatisfaction
The statement came prior to the beginning of plenum activity on Monday after Ben-Gvir nearly managed to topple important budget laws over the past two weeks due to his dissatisfaction with his ministry’s budget.
The coalition managed to pass the laws only after Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen broke with his party and voted with the coalition. Cohen commended Ben-Gvir for “ending the unfortunate saga” and said he had been willing to “pay a personal price” on behalf of the “stability our heroic soldiers need.”
Neither Ben-Gvir nor Smotrich’s spokesperson responded to a request for comment on the nature of the “progress” in the national security ministry’s budget.