By Dr. Aaron Lerner, IMRA 19 May 2024
The following item is noteworthy as Gantz slams the righter wing member of the cabinet, which include Treasury Minister Smotrich:
“The initial signs of the confrontation blossomed back in December. During a government discussion, a draft for a defense budget supplement of 222 billion shekels for the next four years was put on the table. Smotrich wondered aloud how the IDF managed to quickly prepare, under fire, a budget proposal that incorporates the lessons of the war with future needs. The IDF representatives in the discussion were offended: “You don’t trust us?”
Smotrich, as usual, clarified that he indeed did not trust them. He was also unimpressed by the macho remark Gallant threw at him: “I don’t tell you how to manage the economy, don’t tell me how to manage security.”
In the subsequent budget discussion, a significant amendment in the spirit of one of Smotrich’s recommendations was introduced, but this amendment actually increased his suspicions that the IDF was still improvising.
The Finance Minister demanded the establishment of a public committee to examine the defense budget, which would include expert representatives appointed by him. The events of October 7 and onwards convinced him that the traditional priorities of the system rest on a high mountain of shaky assumptions. The committee he demands to establish might refresh these assumptions; for example, preferring the addition of divisions to the ground forces over the addition of squadrons to the Air Force, or finding a more appropriate response to the Iranian threat than what the General Staff currently proposes, perhaps under the illusion that Israel is capable of thwarting the threat on its own. Instead of erecting a new fence on the Jordanian border for 4 billion shekels to prevent the increasing arms smuggling from Tehran to the West Bank, perhaps a line of fortifications would be better? Afterall, on October 7, it was proven what a fence is worth.”
Hagai Segal Makor Rishon 17 May 2024
I too wonder how the IDF came up with their numbers.