The Knesset approves an additional 9 billion dollars to fund the Gaza war.

The Israeli Knesset (parliament) approved in the first reading a bill to add approximately 31 billion shekels (more than 9 billion dollars) to fund war expenses.

The Hebrew economic site Calcalist reported: The Knesset approved in the first reading last night, Wednesday, an additional amount of 30.8 billion shekels (9.23 billion dollars) primarily allocated for security needs.

42 Knesset members (out of 120) voted in favor of the bill, while 37 opposed it, but for it to become law, it must be voted on in three readings according to Israeli law.

The vote took place in a special session of the Knesset's general assembly during its summer recess as part of a political deal between the government and the two Haredi parties (religious) that withdrew from the government last July, protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's (wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes) failure to fulfill his promise to enact a law exempting Haredim from military service.

While the deal stipulated that the United Torah Judaism party (7 seats in the Knesset) would abstain from voting, the Shas party (11 seats) would vote in favor of the bill, according to the same source.

Deal with the extremists As part of the deal, the parliamentary finance committee will approve today, Thursday, the transfer of 80 million shekels (24 million dollars) to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth stated that the vote on increasing the defense budget came after unexpected expenses due to the ongoing war, with a particular focus on the war with Iran (June 13-24), and extensive military purchases made by the Israeli army, without further details.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the Knesset also approved in the first reading a bill to increase the deficit to 5.2%, which was supported by 48 members against 40 who opposed it, meaning that the actual deficit rate will jump from 4.9% to 5.2%.

In March, the Knesset approved Israel's budget for 2025, which amounted to about 619 billion shekels (185.55 billion dollars), with a deficit ceiling of 4.9%, while the security budget was about 110 billion shekels (33 billion dollars).

Disputes had recently erupted between the Israeli finance and defense ministries over the issue of adding to the budget, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The Israeli security establishment demanded an increase of 60 billion shekels (18 billion dollars), claiming that the Gideon Vehicles operation in Gaza and the war on Iran had not been allocated budgets, and that the funds were necessary for replenishing stocks and also for urgent purchases, ranging from Arrow missiles that were about to run out to hundreds of armored vehicles specifically for soldiers in the sector.

At the beginning of September, Channel 12 revealed a confidential internal document from the Israeli army acknowledging the failure of the Gideon Vehicles operation in the Gaza Strip (from May 16 to August 6, 2025) to achieve its declared objectives, primarily defeating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and securing the release of prisoners.

The Israeli army announced on September 3, after more than three weeks of intensive bombing of the Gaza Strip, the launch of Operation Gideon Vehicles 2 to fully occupy the city of Gaza, which sparked criticism and protests in Israel, fearing for the lives of prisoners and soldiers.

On September 2, the Hebrew broadcasting authority stated that the cost of Operation Gideon Vehicles 2 ranges between 6 billion and 7.5 billion dollars, according to estimates.

With the support of the United States, Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to stop it.

This genocide has resulted in the martyrdom of 64,656 Palestinians, the injury of about 164,000, most of whom are children and women, over 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and famine that has claimed the lives of 404 Palestinians, including 141 children.