Likud MK Yuli Edelstein sharply criticized the proposed supplemental Budget Law for 2023 today (Wednesday).
During his speech at the Knesset plenum, Edelstein said that “a serious mistake has been made here. Aside from the needs of the fighting, all sorts of things have entered into this budgetary supplement, some of them very close to my heart, by the way, which are not related to the fighting. It’s not to late to fix things.”
Objections Should be Submitted Which Take Down Spending Unrelated to the Fighting
According to Edelstein, “the budget has now gone to the Knesset Finance Committee to be prepared for the second and third vote. We need to submit an objection there which takes down all the spending unrelated to the fighting, the handling of the evacuees, the hostages, and all the immediate matters. The objection can be governmental and it can be of the Finance Committee. And then if that happens I am sure that next week we will not see a show of arguments, and we will see a majority of over 100 MKs who support this budget.”
Edelstein’s speech joins with the opposition of Economy Minister Nir Barkat to the budget in its current form. Earlier, at a discussion of the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, Barkat said that he would not support a state budget if at least 250 million NIS was not allocated to save businesses in the south and north from collapse.