The Israeli parliament worked to ensure the continued existence of the government
© APA / AFP
On Friday evening, the Israeli parliament approved the 2022 budget. The bill was supported by 59 votes to 56 against, the media reported. Parliament had already approved, on Thursday morning, the crucial budget for 2021. This means that the continued presence of the government headed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of the far-right Yamina party has been secured for the time being and new elections have been averted.
The coalition was to present the 2021 budget to Parliament by 14 November. Otherwise, the Knesset in Jerusalem will be dissolved automatically. New elections had to be held after 90 days.
The new Bennett administration was sworn in in mid-June. Thus ended the permanent political crisis in Israel at the present time with four elections in two years. However, the coalition has only a slim majority in Parliament. It is supported by a total of eight parties from right to left – including an Arab party for the first time.
Last year, the then-government led by right-wing conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to agree on a budget. Shortly before Christmas, the Knesset was dissolved. This was followed by the March elections, which resulted in the Bennett government.
According to the Knesset, the Responsible Finance Committee already confirmed the budget in the amount of about 165 billion euros for 2021 and about 155 billion euros for 2022 last week. The Knesset last approved the 2019 budget in March 2018. Since then, the country has been governed on the basis of the previous year’s budget.
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