One picture posted by the Prime Minister's Office, (PMO) showing a meeting to discuss the national budget, tells the whole story about the government's fiscal responsibility. There are no papers or graphs on the table between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and, more importantly, no one who might matter to formulating the budget was there.
The head of the Finance Ministry's Budget Division did not come to explain how serious the government's spending situation is, the director of the Tax Authority was not invited to review proposals for tax increases, the Accountant General did not attend the discussion despite being the person who signs off on all national expenditures, and the Chief Economist was not invited to present forecasts for the grim state of the economy on the backdrop of the prolonged war with tens of thousands of displaced citizens.
If the discussion was a serious one, it would invite the financial advisor to clarify the consequences for next year's budget, given the war-related expenditures. Also, if it were a truly serious discussion, the Economy Minister should have been invited to participate.
Days after all 2025 budgetary discussions were halted by an "order from the higher-ups," Netanyahu and Smotrich decided to discuss ways to tackle the deficit before they loose control, fearing credit agencies will decide to lower Israel's credit score.
The credit rating firms may think they were misled by the government, which promised a plan to cut the budget and raise taxes amounting to 30 billion shekels. If they do, it would cost Israel another downgrade.
Netanyahu, a seasoned politician in every aspect, understood that suspending discussions over the national budget could come at a cost, so he promptly called for an urgent meeting and invited a photographer.
The prime minister did not want to hear about raising taxes and making impossible cuts to ministry budgets, when his coalition partners threatened to dissolve the government and for new elections.
The credit rating agencies, the IMF, the OECD, and the world's largest companies investing in Israel do not appoint foolish economists. They saw the photo and understood that no economic plan was devised during the meeting.
In response to a question, the PMO said this was a preliminary discussion and that more meetings would be held.