The first bills associated with the 2025 budget were set to pass into law overnight on Wednesday, after a filibuster by the opposition.
The bills include the Budget Framework bill, which sets the debt ceiling and government spending limit; the Economics Arrangements bill, which includes a series of amendments that are necessary for the budget to be carried out in full; and two other bills that were split from Economic Arrangements bill, one that deals with digitization of government services, and the other that regulates payment systems between hospitals and HMOs.
The debt ceiling will stand in 2025 at 4.7%, higher than the original proposal of 4.4%. An additional 0.2% is allocated for emergency funds, and if used, the ceiling could rise to 4.9%. The government spending limit will grow by around NIS 70 billion. This increase is of around 13% of the base of government spending in 2024.
The bills were expected to pass with a comfortable majority, following the return of MK Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party to the government.
Number of MKs said they would oppose the bill
The coalition’s ability to ensure a majority for the budget-associated bills was unclear prior to Ben-Gvir’s return, as a number of coalition MKs announced they would oppose the bill.
These included Agudat Yisrael MKs Yaakov Tessler and Moshe Roth, who demanded that a bill to exempt a majority of yeshiva students from IDF service pass before the budget; and Noam chairman MK Avi Maoz, who protested what he claimed was a lack of funding in the budget for religious-Zionist torah study institutions.
The budget itself is expected to pass into law next week. It must pass by March 31, or else the government falls, and an election is called.