Budget Feud Freezes Israel's Interceptor Missile Purchases

(MENAFN) Israel has suspended acquisitions of interceptor missiles for its air defense network as a funding dispute between the defense and finance ministries drags on, local media reported Tuesday.

Israeli media identified the flashpoint as 15 billion shekels ($4.92 billion) in funds the military maintains it is owed and should have already received. Finance officials rejected that framing, countering that the sum was never intended for active operations — rather, it was meant to settle debt the armed forces had racked up without securing prior sign-off.

An Israeli broadcaster reported that this year's defense budget started at 143 billion shekels ($47 billion), a figure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later pushed up to 183 billion shekels ($60 billion) after Israeli military strikes hit Iran and Lebanon. The first tranche of that increase — 15 billion shekels — was supposed to arrive in August. It still hasn't.

Earlier reporting from the broadcaster indicated the stalled payment was already taking a toll on Israeli military activity in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon, worsening pre-existing gaps in spare-parts supplies.

Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir confirmed the rift publicly in late August, telling reporters the military now finds itself up against what he termed a "campaign" over funding.

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