The Israeli government passed the 2021 state budget bill on Thursday—the country’s first budget in more than three years—by a vote of 61-59.
Bogged down by political upheaval and successive election campaigns, Israel has been without an official budget since 2018. Under Israeli law, if a new government does not pass a budget within 100 days, a new general election is triggered. For Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the deadline was Nov. 14, meaning Thursday’s vote marked a significant achievement for the eight-party patchwork coalition.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted, “After a long night we passed the 2021 budget in the Knesset. We still have a long day ahead of us and [passing] next year’s budget. We’re here to effect change!”
The new budget comes “after three and a half years of chaos, failed management and paralysis, years in which the country was a tool in a personal game, years of four election campaigns one after another at a dead end,” he said.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.