The government's 2023-2024 budget is illegal, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG) claimed in a petition to the High Court of Justice, filed after the budget passed its second and third Knesset readings early Wednesday morning.
The court has ruled in the past that its two-year budget had problems and that it would no longer accept such plans, MQG noted in the petition, thereby bringing the budget's legality into question.
"A two-year budget is not only anti-democratic and irresponsible, it is also illegal," said MQG.
MQG argued that the budget was undemocratic because it would prevent the Knesset from engaging in further challenges and deliberations on the 2024 budget.
"Precisely at this time, when the importance of the separation of powers is at the center of public discourse, the government takes one of the most significant tools of oversight away from the Knesset -- the passing of the budget law," argued MQG attorney Ariel Barzilai.
The NGO said that unlike the last two-year budget passed in 2021 by the Bennett-Lapid administration that only covered one extra month, the government was passing a full two-year budget.
The budget doesn't take into account 2024 economic forecasts
The movement also contended that the budget didn't take into account poor economic forecasts for 2024, and budgets for that period shouldn't be passed so far into advance. MQG claimed that the economic turbulence was caused by instability in the wake of the judicial reform.
Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality NGO also threatened to submit a petition following its passing. The NGO sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Attorney-General warning them ahead of their court appeal.
The NGO argued that the allocation of funds in the petition, which includes millions of shekels for Haredi religious academic institutions, was unprecedented in its unequal distribution to specific groups. The coalition had no right to distribute funds in an unequal manner, said Hiddush.
Hiddush noted that the funds for the budget "grew during the two weeks before the budget was brought to the Knesset and exceeded the treasury calculations made for the purpose of preparing the budget," and would require cuts in multiple ministries in a way that would impact public services and citizens.
The Arrangements Law, which is used to incorporate bills and amendments needed to pass a government's economic policy, was improperly used according to Hiddush. MQG also claimed that the law wasn't used properly in a separate petition filed to the High Court on Wednesday.
The second MQG petition against the Municipal Tax Law, arguing that it would institute a structural change that would change the entire economy and change the relationship between local and central authorities. Such changes are not suitable for the Arrangements Law, argued MQG.
MQG also argued that the tax law, which would redistribute municipal taxes (arnona) to higher earning districts to lower earning areas, failed to address many of the complexities of the cities. The NGO claimed that this included municipal debts and deficits, which miscategorized the status of authorities.
"The Knesset advanced one of the most significant legislative moves made in the local government in recent years in a hasty and reckless manner without addressing the consequences, and relying on missing data," said MQG attorney Tomer Naor.
Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.