The Knesset voted Monday night to give final approval to a bill raising the deficit cap and expanding the 2024 budget by billions to cover defense outlays, amid the ongoing war.

The law passed its second and third readings in the Knesset by a vote of 62-52, largely along party lines.

The legislation raised the deficit ceiling to 7.7 percent of gross national production, from its current cap of 6.6%.

Lifting the ceiling will allow the government to add roughly NIS 33 billion ($9 billion) to the 2024 budget, with the vast majority of the funds going to defense spending.

Shortly beforehand, the Knesset voted to extend the country’s state of emergency until December 16, 2025, in accordance with the recommendation of the security cabinet. Twenty-nine MKs voted in support of that resolution, while seven voted against.

The Knesset last extended the state of emergency in May but did so then for only six months. The state of emergency — which has been in place continuously since the country’s founding — allows the cabinet to........

© The Times of Israel