The government plans to offset wartime spending and an economic slowdown with tax hikes and deep cuts to public services. But the proposed budget for 2025 also includes a massive new allocation: toward pro-Israel advocacy efforts abroad.

Under the new budget, the Foreign Ministry will receive $150 million, on top of what it gets for its existing activities, for what’s officially known as public diplomacy, or hasbara in Hebrew. That sum is more than 20 times what such efforts have typically been allotted in past years.

The dramatic expenditure is the result of a political deal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck last month to shore up his governing coalition. Lawmaker Gideon Sa’ar and his New Hope party agreed to rejoin the coalition in return for the funding and the appointment of Sa’ar as foreign minister.

The news comes as public opinion about Israel in the United States and elsewhere........

© The Times of Israel