"We are headed towards an unnecessary crisis in relation to the budget," Barak was quoted by Ynet as saying on Wednesday.
The Finance Ministry has dramatically cut the funds earmarked for the Defense Ministry and demanded that the ministry dismisses 1,000 employees.
The Defense Ministry was also required to raise the age of retirement and reduce the length of mandatory army service.
Based on Finance Minister, Yuval Steinitz's bill, the budget expansion will be kept at 1.7 percent.
"We stand before an economic crisis the likes of which has not been seen for 80 years, and Israel's government must take action," Barak admitted.
"We need an extensive policy beyond, and I stress, beyond the 1.7% limit," he said. "We need the budget to provide for defense challenges."
Friday, 8 May 2009
Lack of funds puts Israeli army on verge of crisis
Wed, 06 May 2009 22:56:44 GMT
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the budget allocated to his ministry is insufficient and would put it at the risk of "an unnecessary crisis".
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