Finance Minister Smotrich accused of compromising Israel's security for populist reasons
The acquisition of the squadrons is critical to maintaining the superiority of the IDF in the region and against the arms race of both Iran and Hezbollah in the north.
www.jpost.com
This time the problem is from within Israel- the finance dept is worried about how they'll pay for the jets. Israel's economy took a hit from Covid (as did every economy around the world) but they have had massive expenses since the Oct 7 attack from Hamas. People living in the north near the Lebanese border have been displaced and in temporary housing since then at the govt's expense AND much of the country had to pick up arms and go to war. In addition their tourist economy and other sectors have taken a hit from almost no tourism on top of all the other industries having to lose workers to the army as the reserves were called up.
From the article:
"The next crisis surrounding the strengthening of the IDF and its preparation for the next war: in the defense establishment, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was accused of compromising Israel's security and preventing the purchase of Air Force fighter squadrons for populist reasons, according to Israeli media on Friday.
A procurement agreed upon by the government and approved by the US Congress and the Pentagon.
An official in the defense industry told Maariv this week: "The minister is preventing the convening of the procurement committee. We are trying to implement the purchase of the two F15 and F35 squadrons in the last few hours, and if we do not complete the procurement in the coming days, the Air Force will suffer.""
