Liberman requests NIS 4.8b more for defense

Avigdor Liberman  photo: Tamar Matsafi
Avigdor Liberman photo: Tamar Matsafi

Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman: Major and dramatic change in the region entails reopening the accord on defense spending.  

"There has been a major and dramatic change that has led us to request a supplement to the defense budget," Minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman said today in a briefing for military correspondents. The amount of the supplementary defense budget that Liberman is requesting from the Ministry of Finance is NIS 4.8 billion over three years, during which period the defense establishment will itself contribute NIS 1 billion through streamlining measures.

According to Liberman, the Kahlon-Ya'alon accord on the defense budget (named after its signatories, Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon and Liberman's predecessor as minister of defense Moshe Ya'alon) dating from 2015, on which the IDF's multi-year plan known as "Gideon" is based, was able to be reopened in the event of "major developments". In Liberman's view, the regional changes that have taken place since the Kahlon-Ya'alon accord was signed compel Israel to revamp its military planning.

The main development is the massive Russian presence in Syria "which has changed the situation," as Liberman put it. In addition, he noted the introduction of new and more accurate weaponry into the region, with which Hezbollah and other organizations are equipped, and a dramatic acceleration in Iran's armaments program, with an emphasis on development of ballistic missiles.

Liberman said that when he asked the Ministry of Finance for an addition to the defense budget, which is based on the multi-year outline deriving from the Kahlon-Ya'alon accord, he was answered "We haven't any money." "That's the answer you always get from the Finance Ministry," he said.

Liberman's bureau said today that under the Gideon multi-year plan, which got underway in 2016, the security establishment had spent NIS 1.8 billion on security elements that were not included in the budget plan. This sum includes, among other things, construction of the obstacle to tunnel digging around the Gaza Strip at a cost estimated at NIS 300 million, and erection of a perimeter fence in Judea and Samaria at a cost of NIS 270 million.

Senior defense sources said today that the Gideon multi-year plan on which the IDF currently bases its activity was formulated before the new threats emerged that oblige Israel to review its planning. "The Kahlon-Ya'alon accord did not take into account matters that have arisen just in the past year, such as the rapprochement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, Iran's extensive deployment in Syria, and of course any change that may or may not be introduced into the nuclear agreement with Iran, which force us to adapt to a new situation regardless of the current request to increase the defense budget."

One defense source said, "The Gideon multi-year plan does not cover an enemy on the level of a country, but it is impossible to ignore Iran. We have got used to Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad which are connected to it. But there is now deep involvement by Iran itself, which wants to be perceived as a strong regional power. Generals responsible for building the IDF's forces are giving us a clear message: they want more of everything, and fast, so that they will be able to respond effectively to the range of threats."

"We are acting in Syria continually, and these operations have the potential to escalate. We are trying to act in a way that will contain the situation below the threshold of war, but the friction is rising," the source added.

"Every kilo of security now costs more," Liberman said today. "Every meter of fence we build around Gaza costs a great deal more than it did a few years ago, and every new combat aircraft that we buy costs more than its predecessor. And there are severe threats, such as a ground-to-ground missile with a 1,000 kilogram warhead that could reach central Tel Aviv."

Defense establishment sources also stressed the wide gap between Israel's defense budget and those of the Arab countries. According to figures from a defense source, in recent years the gap in defense spending has widened between certain Arab countries and Israel, such that between 2006 and 2016 they spent some $400 billion on armaments, which compares with spending of just $100 billion between 1997 and 2006.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 20, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Avigdor Liberman  photo: Tamar Matsafi
Avigdor Liberman photo: Tamar Matsafi
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