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Israel’s Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly agreed a series of cutbacks in order to reduce what Lapid described as a “monstrous” deficit.

Lapid, who has been in office for just one week, said on Saturday evening that the country’s financial situation was worse than he had anticipated, commenting “I have discovered that there is a monstrous, growing overdraft in our bank account.” He pledged “We’ll work hard, we’ll limit ourselves, we’ll reduce expenses, we will also have to cut where it’s most painful. It will be difficult, it will be stressful.”

Reports on Channel Two yesterday evening and in Maariv and Israel Hayom this morning suggest that Lapid and Netanyahu have slated almost £3billion in savings as part of the 2013 state budget. Each of the reports indicates that Lapid plans to make cuts to infrastructure projects such as roads and railways and will also halt the implementation of state-subsidised education from the age of three. Perhaps most controversially, almost one third of the planned savings are reportedly intended to be taken from the country’s defence budget.

Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon voiced objection yesterday saying, “Over the years I’ve believed, and I still believe, that you don’t touch the [Defence Ministry’s] research and development budget, you don’t enslave the future.”

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition, Labour Party head Shelly Yachimovich also criticised Lapid’s proposed cuts. Referring to his election pledge to bring a new style to Israeli politics, Yachimovich said “Lapid woke up in the morning sounding exactly, but exactly, like Netanyahu.” She claimed that under Lapid’s plans, “The big corporations will keep on not paying taxes… Salary freezes and taxes on savings funds for teachers is much easier.”