In Israel, the coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu passed the controversial 2023-2024 budget, which caused protests on the grounds that it privileged Ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The 2023-2024 budget, which was brought to the Parliament after Netanyahu reached an agreement with the extreme right-wing and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties forming the coalition government, was accepted with 64 “yes” and 56 “no” votes.
As a result of the voting, the budget was determined as 484 billion shekels (about 132 billion dollars) for 2023 and 514 billion shekels (about 140 billion dollars) for 2024.
After the budget was passed by the Parliament, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that the controversial "judicial reform" bill, which has caused mass demonstrations in the country for months and that the government had to suspend, will also come back to the Parliament.
Speaking to Channel 14 television, Netanyahu stated that the bill, which has been criticized for "weakening the powers of the judiciary", will "definitely" come to the agenda again.
Referring to ongoing talks with the opposition to reach consensus on the bill, Netanyahu said, "We are already in the middle of the matter, trying to reach an agreement with the opposition and hopefully we will be successful."
REACTION FROM THE OPPOSITION
On the other hand, political and social opposition in Israel is reacting to the government on the grounds that religious Jews (Haredi), who make up about 13 percent of Israel's population, "get the lion's share of the budget" and "other Israelis finance this segment."
Opposition leader, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement on Twitter:
"While you were sleeping, the worst and most destructive budget in the history of the country was passed by the Parliament. There's no good news in it, no struggles with the cost of living, just endless looting. This budget is a violation of commitments to Israeli citizens, and all of us, our children and even our children's children, will pay for it."
Former Defense Minister and National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz also reacted to the budget in a statement on his social media account, arguing that Israel "had fallen into the hands of an extremist coalition that sacrificed the country's economy and society to its policies".