Defense Ministry Director General Amir Baram warned that prolonged budget disputes are causing a 'dangerous delay' to the IDF's ₪350 billion modernization plan, criticizing the Finance Ministry for treating wartime reality as a temporary accounting event. He cautioned that emerging international agreements could provide Iran with hundreds of billions of dollars, allowing it to rapidly rebuild its military capabilities.
At a briefing today, Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram warned that Israel's long-term military buildup is facing a 'dangerous delay,' as the Finance Ministry and Defense Ministry remain deadlocked over the 2026 budget. The IDF's ₪350 billion modernization plan, approved by the Prime Minister and Defense Minister, has stalled due to budget disputes, Baram said, criticizing the Finance Ministry's Budget Department for treating the current reality as a 'temporary accounting event' after nearly three years of war.
The Defense Ministry is seeking a 2026 budget of ₪188 billion, compared with a post-war benchmark of ₪143 billion and the original ₪112 billion baseline, and is requesting an immediate ₪40 billion increase as part of the broader ten-year force buildup plan. Defense officials say the impasse has forced procurement freezes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a scheduled Sunday defense budget meeting after postponing an identical session last Thursday, with reports of 'tens of billions' of shekels still separating the two ministries.
Baram also warned that international agreements could provide Iran with hundreds of billions of dollars, enabling it to rapidly rebuild its military capabilities, and stressed that Israel must accelerate its own force buildup while advancing a new regional security architecture with the United States and additional partners. He noted that the Defense Ministry has used emergency authorities to expand production of Arrow, David's Sling, and Iron Dome interceptors, but cautioned that the effort is far from complete.
As The Zioneer reported earlier today, Baram delivered a similar warning about preparedness at the Herzliya Conference, noting that emergency measures had increased the interceptor stockpile during combat but that the work is unfinished.
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Source and signal
- Internal intake