Israel's parliament on Wednesday passed the budget for the current and the coming year, securing the survival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing religious government.
The budget was approved in its final reading, according to a spokesman for Netanyahu's Likud party. Previously, there had been disputes within the coalition for weeks about the distribution of funds.
According to the Knesset, as the parliament is known, the total budget will amount to some 484 billion shekels ($131 billion) for 2023 and about 514 billion shekels for 2024.
After the vote, Netanyahu was quoted as saying by media reports: "We will continue for four good years."
If the budget had failed to pass by May 29, parliament would have automatically dissolved and new elections would have been called. In the past, several governments failed to pass the budget.
Ahead of the vote, several of Netanyahu's coalition partners had threatened not to approve the latest proposal.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for example, as well as ultra-religious factions called for more funds for their departments.
However, Netanyahu managed to strike an agreement with the individual coalition parties ahead of the final vote.
On Tuesday evening, thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem against the allocation of further funds to Israel's strictly Orthodox Jews, protesting against a "looting" of public funds.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid also slammed the distribution of funds as disastrous. The budget encouraged the dependence of parts of the population on the state, he said, referring to larger sums allocated to strictly religious communities.
Only a part of Israel's strictly Orthodox communities actively participates in working life. Many young men instead devote themselves mainly to religious studies.
Netanyahu's right-wing religious coalition has a majority of 64 of the 120 seats in parliament. The most far-right government in Israel's history was sworn in at the end of last year.
