The Weekly Portion: 2008 defense budget dangerously lacking

Last week, the NIS 305 billion 2008 state budget was approved.  In eleven votes for the  budget, out of sixteen in which I participated, I was a member of the coalition. Last week, for the first time, I voted against the budget in breach of the coalition pact. Why?

It is in the social domain that the Labor faction has made respectable achievements, specifically in the cancellation of the anti-social decrees initiated by the Treasury. I've written previously on the expansion of the 'Health Basket'. May all my colleagues who worked hard for these achievements be blessed.

As a member of the special defense budget commission, in recent weeks, I have focused all my efforts on the matter. Last Monday, a final draft of the defense budget was presented to the commission as well as the works planned by Labor on which the budget was based on.

Four main discrepancies were discovered in the defense budget for 2008. This is due to the fact that the budget lacks NIS 14 billion and the optimal needs for defense are not being met. Specifically, we are talking about gaps within the budget that exist based not on need but because of budget cuts. What are these four discrepancies?

After all the commissions for the investigation and review of the Second Lebanon War, there are sill severe deficiencies in the readiness of the military while the Home Front Command received but a quarter of the minimal finances required to undergo the changes needed to improve home front security. There is not even a budget to meet the security needs of those who live on the front lines or for armored buses in the West Bank.

The budget for personal protection kits for civilians (gas masks, etc.) is 40% below what is needed. Today, half of Israel's population does not have protection kits in working order. A tri-annual plan was prepared in order to complete the distribution of protection kits, however, due to the budget cuts, not even one new protection kit will be assigned. There is growing suspicion that the factories making them will shut down the production line.

In closed discussions with the special committee, it became clear that hundreds of millions of shekels are missing for the IDF to implement the most necessary changes for the upcoming year. This, when the general budget allocated for defense is NIS 1.1 billion less compared to 2007. I cannot give any more details but I can say we are talking about essential expenses.

And the last one: a proper response to the Iranian threat is delayed due to a lack of resources. When, according to all the signs that the threat is looming, when even American intelligence tells us that there is a possibility that Iran will complete its quest for a nuclear bomb by 2010, the lack of response from Israel is a failure of unprecedented proportions.

How much money are we talking about exactly? Half of one percent of the budget, less than a billion shekels for all the issues combined.

When the strategic regional situation is worsening, according to all intelligence evaluations, a country cannot waive defending its citizens because of less than one percent of its budget. Even if this meant a deficit in the budget of less than one percent, it would be justified.

In European countries, a budget deficit of up to 3% is allowed. In Israel, this is not permitted. The year 2007 ended with a surplus of billions of shekels in the treasury's coffer. If the economic ideology of restraining government expenses is more important than defending the country's citizens, then there is a severe moral flaw here.

I must point out that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who in two different instances tried to talk me out of voting against the budget, completely accepts my stance, on the professional-defense aspect and on the moral aspect.

It is irritating that 2 years ago last week, 7 months before the Second Lebanon war began, I said similar things at a press conference I called for in the Knesset. I warned then that our strength has been eroded by 30%, that the military's readiness had been severely affected by [Binyamin] Netanyahu's cuts to the defense budget. What happened next is widely known.

I belong to a generation for which the Yom Kippur war was a molding experience. The struggle for Israel's security and defense was a responsibility I took personally during the latter stages of that same war, in which I ended up with blood-soaked clothes on the edges of Ismailiya. I will continue doing so, even alone.