RAMALLAH, September 26 (JMCC) - Israel's military is balking at proposed budget cuts that would slash its spending by more than half,
reports the Jerusalem Post.
The current military budget is about $13.5 million dollars, but the government wants to cut its expenditures to $6.5 million to pay for new social programs, demanded by a wave of protests over the summer.
“The IDF will collapse in five years and possibly earlier and will be a different IDF than we know now,” the senior officer said. “It will be a different military since we will not be able to provide missile defense systems, to buy more fighter jets, to buy more tanks and ammunition if the budget is cut.”
Despite the IDF warning, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that the defense establishment would need to make cuts to its budget.
“The social protests were real and provided us with an opportunity to solve some real social problems and the Defense Ministry needs to contribute its part,” Barak said at a meeting of the Independence faction.
The budget cuts would threaten plans to purchase new fighter jets, unmanned drones, surface-to-surface missiles and missile defense systems.