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A lengthy debate took place among senior Israeli cabinet members yesterday over scheduled cuts to the defence budget which the IDF is arguing must be reviewed, much to the disapproval of the Finance Ministry.

In May, the government set the defence budget at NIS 51 billion (£9billion), a cut of NIS 4 billion (£500million) which the IDF says will actually amount to NIS 7.5 billion (£1.3billion) due to factors outside of its control, such as rising electricity costs, municipal taxes and added benefits to career soldiers following a decision to increase the age of retirement. According to YNet, informal discussions on the issue took place from 3-10pm yesterday during which officials from the Finance Ministry and Defence Ministry presented their opposing views to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with formal talks set to take place today.

Speaking at a Knesset committee hearing on Monday, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said, “The treasury is exploiting the public mood” and “will require us to dismiss 4,500 career soldiers.” On Tuesday, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz commented that cuts to the number of career soldiers “harms Israel’s security.” YNet says defence officials are concerned that the budget cuts will impact the IDF’s ability to carry out operations; especially as the cuts will likely impact in spring 2014 when Iran’s nuclear development and peace talks with the Palestinians could reach a crucial stage. Haaretz says the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division released statistics yesterday which showed an increase in West Bank violence in recent months, including attacks which killed or injured Israelis.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid said he opposes any change to the planned defence cuts and “Any addition to the military will come at the expense of the middle class, health, education and welfare.”