The threat posed by Iraq’s massive military build-up is the chief argument raised by Defense Minister Moshe Arens and the Israel Defense Force’s top brass against a proposed $40 million cut in the defense budget this year.
While IDF sources admit the amount is relatively small, they say it must be considered in the context of Israel’s steady decrease in military spending over the last seven to eight years.
Arens opposed the cut in an appearance Wednesday before a joint subcommittee of the Knesset’s Finance Committee and its Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.
His views are supported by Eliahu Ben-Elissar, chairman of the foreign affairs panel, and by rising members of the younger generation of Likud Knesset members, including Benjamin Begin and Uzi Landau.
Ben-Elissar called the proposed cut by Treasury “hasty.”
Res. Gen. David Ivri, director general of the Defense Ministry, told a television interviewer Tuesday that while war with Iraq was not considered imminent, the scope and scale of the Iraqi military build-up exceeded the estimates of Israeli intelligence analysts following the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
Ivri said that far from trimming the defense budget, the government should consider increasing it, so that the IDF can develop the best possible responses to Iraq’s large army and its growing missile capability.
Ma’ariv published a report Wednesday saying Israel now devotes 8 percent of its gross national product to defense, compared to 15 percent in 1982.
That trend, for the most part, reflected the changed strategic situation after Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt and also Iraq’s 10 years of war with Iran, which ended last year.
In addition, the IDF’s resources have been drained for over two years by the intifada. The army claims, moreover, that its operations in the administered territories have not been adequately funded.
Treasury officials have suggested that the $40 million reduction could come out of professional benefits enjoyed by military personnel.
But to pare those benefits would prejudice the IDF’s ability to attract top professional talent to its ranks, Gen. Dan Shomron, army chief of staff, told military correspondents.
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