War Budget Leaves Netanyahu Caught Between Markets and Politics

So the U.S. wants to give taxpayer money to Israel for a war, all while Israel continues to fund religious schools and land theft in the West Bank. Brilliant.

"Built into Israel’s expenditure program are so-called 'coalition funds,' or discretionary spending earmarked to the five parties comprising Netanyahu’s government, the most religious in Israel’s history. A record 14 billion shekels ($3.6 billion) in transfers approved last May will partly go toward religious schools — some exempt from teaching subjects like English and math. Other favored projects include the development of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

While the special allotments are a fraction of the total budget for 2023-2024, they have become a marker of competing priorities at a time when Israel confronts its worst armed conflict in half a century."

Link here.