Government Prepares Budget Breach for Munitions as Defense Production Lines Near Halt

The government is preparing a decision, expected as early as next week, to open the approved state budget and add tens of billions of shekels for munitions. The addition would fund tank shells, artillery and mortar bombs, air munitions and interceptors, after the defense establishment warned that production lines at Israeli defense companies stop next month. It forms part of the roughly NIS 400 billion decade-long buildup plan, and the current defense budget has already reached NIS 158 billion, nearly triple its pre-war level. The Attorney General is reviewing whether an amended budget may pass during an election period, which would require an exceptional and urgent Knesset session.