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Israeli Cabinet Approves $2.8 Billion Budget for Potential Strike against Iran

The Israeli army conducted exercises in the Golan Heights on Feb. 15 (AFP)
The Israeli army conducted exercises in the Golan Heights on Feb. 15 (AFP)
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Israeli Cabinet Approves $2.8 Billion Budget for Potential Strike against Iran

The Israeli army conducted exercises in the Golan Heights on Feb. 15 (AFP)
The Israeli army conducted exercises in the Golan Heights on Feb. 15 (AFP)

The Israeli government approved a multiyear draft general budget, to include an increase by around USD2.8 billion for a potential strike against Iran, following 36 hours of deliberations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted of approving the budget, saying that an agreement was reached on a multi-year plan for the security services and the army.

He pointed to the importance of the agreement, which he said was made unanimously with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, “with a little help on my part.”

Netanyahu explained that the budget would bring about a change in the course of military service, and in rewarding soldiers for service. He said that it would provide the appropriate financial reward for soldiers and officers, while shortening the period of service in order to reduce the period of engagement in the labor market, which he said constituted a tremendous change for Israel’s security and for the Israeli economy.

The budget approval comes two days after Ted Colbert, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, announced in Tel Aviv that Israel had requested the purchase of 50 F-15EX aircraft, and the modernization of all F-15 fighters.

Israel is planning to ask the US to sell its new 5,000 pound GBU-72 bomb to the Israeli army. The bomb weighs 5,000 pounds and can be used to strike underground Iranian nuclear sites.

The Israeli army had obtained USD1.5 billion in the 2021 budget to purchase weapons for the possible war with Iran. This year, it requested an additional USD3 billion, of which it obtained USD2.8 billion.

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Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
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Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP

The US Department of Homeland Security said Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government's latest escalation against the educational institution.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced on Wednesday the termination of two DHS grants totaling more than $2.7 million to Harvard, Reuters said.
Noem said she wrote a letter to Harvard demanding records on what she called the "illegal and violent activities" of Harvard's foreign student visa holders by April 30.
"And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students," Noem said in a statement.
A Harvard spokesperson said the university was aware of Noem's letter "regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas."
The spokesperson said the university stood by its statement earlier in the week to "not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights" while saying it will comply with the law.
President Donald Trump's administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian campus protests against US ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza after a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Trump casts the protesters as foreign policy threats who are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza with support for extremism and antisemitism.
The Trump administration is also attempting to deport some foreign protesters and has revoked hundreds of visas across the country.
"With a $53.2 billion endowment, Harvard can fund its own chaos - DHS won't," Noem said, adding an "anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology" existed at Harvard.
Harvard has previously said it worked to fight antisemitism and other prejudice on its campus while preserving academic freedoms and the right to protest.
TRUMP'S CRACKDOWN
The Trump administration said late last month it was reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and grants to Harvard and later called for restrictions - including a mask ban and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs - to be put in place for the university to continue receiving federal money.
Harvard on Monday rejected numerous demands that it said would cede control to the government. The Trump administration subsequently said it was freezing $2.3 billion in funding.
Trump also threatened on Tuesday to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status. CNN reported on Wednesday the US Internal Revenue Service was making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard and that a final decision was expected soon.
Harvard said there was no legal basis to rescind its tax-exempt status, saying such an action will be unprecedented, will diminish its financial aid for students and will lead to abandonment of some critical medical research programs.
Human rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the crackdown by the government.
The Trump administration has frozen or canceled some funding for universities like Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern as well.
It has also threatened to withhold funding over culture war issues such as DEI programs and transgender policies.