The Israeli army has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that it will be unable to maintain security lines on three fronts if the military establishment’s budget is not increased, Army Radio reported Thursday.

Israel refers to the three fronts as the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon, which has been subjected to a deadly Israeli assault since March.

Since October 2023, Israel has been waging a genocidal war on Gaza, while the army has intensified its attacks in the occupied West Bank alongside increased occupier attacks against Palestinians and their property.

Israeli Army Radio correspondent Doron Kadosh said on the US social media platform X that the army informed the political leadership that “without billions of shekels added to the budget,” it will not be able to maintain security lines on three fronts.

The army is expected in the coming days to present the political leadership with estimates showing a defense budget gap of around 25 billion shekels ($8.3 billion), Kadosh said.

The army “is not prepared for winter in Lebanon,” including paving roads for movement during rain and providing winter equipment for troops operating in snowy conditions, he added.

The concerns also include a halt to recruitment in several branches, including the Air Force, Military Intelligence and the Technology and Logistics Directorate.

They also include halting purchases of weapons, including air defense systems, tank and artillery shells and aerial bombs, as well as stopping repairs of heavy armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers.

On Monday, Netanyahu met opposition leader Yair Lapid in an attempt to secure his approval to discuss the budget law, allowing additional funds to be transferred to the security establishment.

Lapid said Wednesday that the funds requested by the Defense Ministry could be provided without affecting the state budget, proposing that they be allocated from funds earmarked for the governing coalition.

These allocations are non-fixed sums included in the state budget and distributed to parties participating in the government under political agreements reached with the prime minister’s party when the coalition is formed.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Lapid told Netanyahu that the funds requested by the Defense Ministry, including 11 billion shekels ($3.63 billion), could be transferred immediately from those allocations.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Channel 13 reported that the army had entered into a dispute with the Finance Ministry over the failure to transfer 15 billion shekels ($4.92 billion) to its budget, which halted purchases of interceptor missiles for air defense systems.

Israel’s public broadcaster KAN said the army’s original 2026 budget stood at around 143 billion shekels ($47.3 billion), before Netanyahu ordered it raised to 183 billion shekels ($60.6 billion) following the Israeli assaults on Iran and Lebanon.

An initial installment of the increase, worth 15 billion shekels, had been scheduled for transfer in August, but the funds have not yet been transferred, it said.

In late August, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said during an assessment of the situation on various fronts: “Unfortunately, these days we are also waging a campaign over the budget.”

The disputes come amid a financial crisis facing the Israeli army, which KAN said on Sept. 3 had begun affecting its ability to operate in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

In addition to the genocidal war in Gaza and attacks on the occupied West Bank and Lebanon, the Israeli army has waged two wars on Iran since last year, as well as carrying out strikes on Yemen and Qatar and near-daily ground incursions and artillery shelling in Syria.

For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Lebanon and Syria, refusing to withdraw from them or allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state as stipulated in relevant UN resolutions.​​​​​​​ (AA)