Israel’s cabinet expands war budget by $15 billion

Israel’s cabinet passed an amended 2024 state budget on Monday, adding 55bn shekels ($15bn) of spending due to the war on Gaza. 

The decision was announced by the Israeli finance minister and came after initial ministerial opposition to budget cuts across the board. 

“This is the war budget, which also takes care of the needs of our reservists, their families, the self-employed and government ministries and the needs of the public,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the vote.