Netanyahu seeks to raise IDF budget, Lapid conditions support on canceling ‘corrupt’ haredi funds

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Yair Lapid held a security briefing meeting on Monday, during which Netanyahu requested that the state budget be reopened to allocate additional funds to the defense establishment, according to Lapid’s office.

Lapid said he would not support the proposal if it meant raising taxes and, instead, he conditioned his support for the prime minister’s proposal on canceling coalition funds being transferred “to finance haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft evasion.”

Lapid noted that, in general, he supported transferring the funds to increase the defense establishment’s budget “because the IDF needs to be strengthened.”

“But the budgetary source cannot be raising taxes on the middle class and reservists, which is where you are leading,” Lapid added.

"Instead, include in the proposal the cancelation of the corrupt coalition funds and the tens of billions of shekels you are currently transferring to finance haredi draft evasion, and we will support the proposal in the Knesset as well.”

Adjustments can't be made to the state budget if they require Knesset approval.

The Knesset is currently on summer recess ahead of the October elections, but the plenum can still convene under certain circumstances. As a result, opposition support would be significant for advancing Netanyahu's proposal.

Netanyahu's ruling Likud party stated after the meeting that Lapid was "misleading the public about the defense budget."

The party argued that the defense budget could be increased without raising taxes.

"Lapid’s claims are absurd and false. State revenues were higher than expected as a result of the government’s economic policies, and consequently, the deficit is also lower than expected. Under these circumstances, the defense budget can be increased without any tax increases," the party added.

"The argument regarding coalition funds and budgets for the haredi sector is also unfounded. There have never been such amounts allocated to coalition funds and the haredi sector, and they have not even come close to those figures," Likud stated.

Lapid's office doubled down on its initial statements in return, responding that the Likud was "lying again and abandoning the security of the state."

'The IDF must be given all the tools it needs to complete its missions'

His office underscored that Lapid supported transferring the funds because "the IDF must be given all the tools it needs to complete its missions."

"Lapid stands by his demand that the budgetary source for these funds not come from raising taxes and increasing the burden on the working and serving public, but rather at the expense of the corrupt coalition funds and the billions of shekels transferred each year to finance haredi draft evasion," the statement continued.

Prime ministerial candidate Gadi Eisenkot, who has been leading in polling among the opposition bloc seeking to oust Netanyahu, backed Lapid.

"Opposition leader Lapid is right: If the Netanyahu government wants a solution, it could meet all of the IDF’s needs until the elections, shut off the flow of coalition funds and transfer the money from political associates and draft evaders to the IDF," Eisenkot stated.

The 2026 state budget that was approved in March included an expenditure cap of about NIS 699 billion.

The Defense Ministry’s budget was set at nearly NIS 142b. Due to the war, the sum was said to have been increased by about NIS 32b.

The 2026 state budget also included nearly NIS 6b. in coalition funds, with hundreds of millions of shekels directed to haredi institutions as part of the proposal.