Source: Financial Times [UK]
“Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in passing a two-year state budget after overcoming a series of rifts within his coalition of far-right and religious parties. Parliament voted through the 1tn-shekel spending package in the early hours of Wednesday, after Netanyahu struck deals with two factions that had threatened to withhold support for the budget unless their demands for greater funding were met. The final package included billions of shekels for Israel’s fast-growing and fervently religious Haredi community, whose leaders are key Netanyahu allies, funding for [illegal squats] in the occupied West Bank … and a new national guard demanded by ultranationalist national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.” (05/24/23)