The coalition will likely succeed in passing the national 2023-2024 budget by the end of next week, according to a packed Knesset plenum schedule for next week that was approved on Monday.
According to the schedule, the plenum next week will open at 9:00 a.m. instead of 4:00 p.m. and run without stopping until Tuesday evening at 8:30 p.m., a total of 35 and a half hours straight. During this time the plenum will debate the package of seven laws that make up the national budget. MKs will not remain in the plenum the entire time, but will rotate in and out in order to rest.
The prime minister, finance minister, opposition leader and Knesset Finance Committee chairman will then summarize the debate, and then voting on the hundreds of sections and reservations for their second and third reading will commence.
The coalition hopes to pass the entire package into law by the end of the week, perhaps as early as Wednesday. However, it scheduled another plenum session at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, May 29, in case this is delayed. The budget must pass on May 29 at midnight, or else the Knesset automatically disperses and an election is called.
Knesset Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni attends a Finance committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on May 16, 2023 (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Finance Committee approves coalition funds
The Finance Committee convened on Wednesday to approve a final version of the coalition funds, which are intended to budget political agreements. The coalition funds add up to over NIS 13.6 billion for the 2023-2024 period, over six times the coalition funds spent by the previous government during the 2021-2022 period.
Approximately NIS 3.7 billion of the funds are earmarked for private or semi-private haredi schools or religious study academies (yeshivot) that are not required to teach core non-religious subjects such as English or mathematics.
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