Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of today's government session on Sunday to approve the state budget for 2024: "100 days ago, the Hamas monsters infiltrated Israel and slaughtered us, raped, burned, and kidnapped our citizens. We have returned half of them, and we will not give up on anyone, but we will do everything in our power to bring everyone back home.

And I emphasize: everyone without exception. These efforts are ongoing at all times, and right at this moment, we will complete them alongside achieving other war objectives."

Netanyahu added, "It has become clear beyond any doubt that we have to wage this war, and that it will take many months. So today we raise the war budget, and although this budget is an annual budget, it is a year in which we are witnessing a war. This requires us to allocate much more money for security than we had planned. We also recognize the necessity to invest in a multi-year plan to rid the State of Israel of its dependence on external purchases in many aspects, meaning local supply and local production capacity, and all of this will be presented to the government table."

He continued: "But at this moment, first, the costs of the war must be covered, and allow us to conduct the war during the next year and complete it, including eliminating Hamas, returning our abductees, restoring security and a sense of safety, for both the northern and southern regions in order to return the residents there. We also propose here bonuses and grants for reserve soldiers, their families, independent workers, and a full range of benefits they deserve. We also propose an additional budget for rebuilding towns and kibbutzim, and naturally for the return of those who were evacuated."

Netanyahu emphasized: "Here, we are working primarily to achieve security in the immediate term, but we are also laying the foundations of security for future generations. And here I say we all must bear part of the burden. When I say we all, I mean the government ministries, and this is also what my office is doing, and according to the initial review conducted by Professor Simhon, he told me that the relative reduction in the Prime Minister's Office budget is the largest among all ministries. I do not know if it is the largest in number, but I demand that everyone bear part of the burden and provide the necessary assistance."

Netanyahu pointed out that: "Usually, we do not raise the level of taxes. It seems to me that the only taxes we impose in this budget and this year relate to the profits of banks. There is also a tax imposed on cigarettes. And I know there is good news regarding the investments provided to the 'Intel' factory and the high-tech industries. But primarily, there is a huge investment in security, which necessitates what is called 'adjustments,' which means in other words budget reductions. This is the truth, and this is what is required. Nevertheless, there will be an increase in the deficit here, since such a large increase in the security budget will also result from our initiative to temporarily increase the deficit this year, because we have a very strong economy, built here together over the last 20 years, which is considered one of the best economies in the world."

Netanyahu concluded: "We have the possibility to increase the deficit, but on the other hand, we must make those adjustments. I ask everyone to cooperate and bear the burden. This is what I ask of everyone, and I know we will conduct discussions here today, but this is my goal, and I am ready to sit here for the next twenty-four hours and devote the required time, and I hope, if possible, to complete this matter during the next night. We will raise a war budget for Israel, which is the budget that guarantees us security and the future."

The Israeli internal security service "Shabak" warned in an urgent message to Netanyahu against reducing the budgets of the Arab community, as part of the government's plan to cut spending in order to support and continue the war in Gaza, stressing that this reduction will have serious security repercussions, especially due to the cutback of the crime-fighting plan in Arab towns.

The message stated that this reduction in the five-year plan for the Arab community by an annual rate of 1.1 billion shekels will cause strategic harm to the national security of all Israeli citizens, and therefore we recommend not harming the five-year budget for the Arab community.