Israel’s government on Monday passed a law subsidizing academic tuition fees for discharged soldiers, following a last-minute compromise.
The government had originally proposed that the state fund 60% of the soldiers’ tuition fees, but the Likud Party, which leads the opposition, threatened to torpedo the measure if its own proposal for 100% funding was not accepted.
The remaining 61 Knesset members, both from the opposition and the coalition, did not participate in the third and final Knesset reading of the bill, which the Joint List faction turned into a no-confidence vote, Ynet reported.
Prior to the vote, Gantz stated, “I’m not willing to allow politics to hurt the IDF. I ask everyone, both coalition and opposition, to vote in favor of this proposal in coordination with the prime minister and foreign minister.”
Gantz, for his part, tweeted, “Recent days have been tough for me, as someone who grew up in the security forces, and as someone who today is the defense minister. IDF soldiers have never been part of the political game, and I think everyone has to look at themselves and ask: How did we get here?”