Defense Minister Lieberman
Photo: Effi Sharir
Lieberman demands Treasury restore billions cut from defense budget
Defense Minister Lieberman says Treasury Ministry cut more than NIS 8 billion from IDF's Gideon multiyear plan, drafted by Chief of Staff Eisenkot; no addition to defense budget sought, Lieberman clarifies, but merely restoration of cut sum; 'We cannot complete plan without satisfactory solution,' he cautions.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has demanded from the Finance Ministry that it return to his ministry's budget a sum of money slashed from the Gideon multi-year plan to counter regional threats—drawn up by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot.
"With the completion of the Gideon multiyear plan in 2015, it was agreed with the Finance Ministry that this was the final amount and that the defense establishment would not come with any further requests, except if there is a fundamental change in the security situation. This principle was obviously mutual, in that the Finance Ministry was not supposed to come to the Defense Ministry and deduct more," Lieberman said at the opening of a meeting of the joint committee on the defense budget.
"As of today, the extent of cross-section cuts that were carried out to the plan by the Treasury stand at NIS 6.2 billion, all as part of a wide scale cut. In addition, they took another NIS 2.1 billion—something that the Cabinet had decided upon—without any relation (to the prior cut—ed) and going beyond the objectives that appeared in the Gideon plan, such as the construction of the underground barrier around Gaza."
File photo. L-R: IDF Chief of Staff Eisenkot, PM Netanyahu and Defense Minister Lieberman (Photo: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
"We are not asking for anything extra. We’re asking that the original budgetary amount be returned as it appeared in the plan. This isn't a matter of interpretation. We cannot continue to complete the Gideon plan without a satisfactory solution to this issue. I hope that that we manage to arrive at an agreement with the Finance Ministry in the coming days."
Eisenkot also participated in the meeting, along with Director-General of the Ministry of Defense Udi Adam and Head of the Treasury's Budgets Department Shaul Meridor.
A few weeks ago, the Finance Committee approved increasing the defense budget by NIS 1.5 billion. The approval—given at the Treasury's request—was unrelated to the regular budget, but rather as an authorization to commit by the Defense Ministry—intended to cover past or future commitments.
The source of the special appropriation, however, is still the ministry's reserve budget as part of the 2018 budget framework. The addition, that is, has nothing to do with Lieberman's demand for an NIS 4 billion addition or to security conflagration on the Syrian border.
Furthermore, the approval was granted without the committee's members receiving details about where the money would go. Detailed explanations as to the uses and reasons for the increase, the committee members were told, will be given at a confidential join session of the Finance Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee dealing with the defense budget.
The 2019 defense budget will be NIS 55 billion, with an additional NIS 9.5 billion allocated to other security-related expenditures.
