Lapid Conditions IDF Budget Support on Coalition-Fund Cuts

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked opposition leader Yair Lapid during a Monday security briefing to support reopening Israel's 2026 budget law so additional money can be transferred to the defense establishment. IDF Planning Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Hedi Silberman also attended. Lapid said he supports strengthening the IDF and would back the proposal in the Knesset if the government cancels coalition allocations and redirects funding tied to Haredi military-service exemptions. He said the added defense spending should not be financed through higher taxes on reservists and middle-class households.