Netanyahu to Finance Ministry: Allocate NIS 3.3b. for defense budget
Defense Ministry to keep From Uniform to Studies going after program was said to be freezing scholarships over lack of funds.
By ANNA AHRONHEIMDefense Minister Benny Gantz talks to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi walks by at a cabinet meeting on June 7(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Finance Ministry to allocate an additional NIS 3.3 billion to the defense budget to finance ongoing and critical IDF projects.According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu spoke with Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, Finance Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, National Security Council head Meir Ben Shabbat as well as other officials to discuss the issue.The funds will be used to finance ongoing military operations, the construction of the Gaza Strip barrier and other critical projects.Any military project over NIS 500 million must be taken in conjunction with the government, and Netanyahu on Wednesday “stressed the importance of enabling the defense establishment to maintain stability in the face of the security challenges” on various fronts.While the military’s budget for the Momentum multiyear plan has not yet been agreed to with the Finance Ministry, the IDF says that the resources available to it, along with changes in internal priorities, will allow the IDF to implement many of the decisions of the plan.Otherwise, the military says it believes there will be a risk to Israel’s national security.“The threats are not waiting for us,” Kochavi has said. “We are at a point in time that if we do not press hard on the gas now and open the gap [between Israel and her enemies] – not within a month, not within a year, but within a few years, it will dictate how we win and how fast we win.”Due to the country’s successive elections and political stalemate, the military has not had a budget for the past two years and has been operating on monthly allowances based on one-twelfth of its 2018 budget.Without a budget, the IDF had to delay procurement and long-term projects and had to cancel training programs.Following reports that the “From Uniform to University” program would be frozen over lack of funds, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that the program will continue for the coming year.
Army Radio reported on Tuesday that the program, which awards scholarships to discharged combat soldiers, as well as lone soldiers and those of minority groups, would be frozen for the coming year and that those expecting their scholarships would not receive them, as the program was missing several million shekels.The report stated that some recipients were planning to give up their studies since they would not be able to finance their studies.Following pressure and a petition signed by more than 30,000 Israelis to keep the program going, the Defense Ministry announced that it was working with the Finance Ministry to find the funds so that the program can open for registration on September 1.The From Uniform to University program started in 2013 and is a joint project of Yahad and the Department for Discharged Soldiers in the Defense Ministry. It has awarded more than 5,000 scholarships to help discharged soldiers receive a bachelor’s degree following their army service.
