Israel cuts 1B from Arab communities for defense spending

The government is expected to approve the transfer of more than NIS 1 billion to accelerate payments for Israel’s Apache attack helicopter procurement deal, with most of the funding coming from cuts to the five-year development plan for Arab society. According to a report published Wednesday, the proposed transfer would spread across several years, with the bulk of the cuts affecting budgets allocated to Arab community development between 2027 and 2029. The plan follows a request by the Defense Ministry to bring forward payments for the purchase of advanced combat helicopters. Under the proposed arrangement, NIS 68 million would be transferred in 2026 from the budget allocated for interest payments. The remaining funding would largely come from the five-year development plan for Arab society. The planned transfers include NIS 169 million in 2027, NIS 342 million in 2028 and NIS 453 million in 2029. In total, the government plans to redirect NIS 1.032 billion, of which NIS 964 million would be taken from budgets earmarked for the development of Arab society. The proposed transfer is not the only budgetary measure being considered to meet the Defense Ministry’s demands. The defense establishment is also seeking more than NIS 2 billion in additional funding. The government is expected to finance that separate demand through across-the-board cuts to ministry budgets later this year.