Knesset passes controversial two-year state budget

Against a flood of objections, the Knesset carried the 2023-2024 state budget after all-night voting and an opposition filibuster. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, having achieved a lease of life for his government coalition, promised to fight the galloping cost of living and “fight on all fronts.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the new budget was the most destructive in Israel’s history. Substantial increments to his coalition partners were laid out for a majority to carry the two-year state budget of NIS13.7bn ($3.73bn) up from NIS452.5m ($123.26m)