Except for the military operation against Hamas over the summer in Gaza, there have been no wars between Israel and the Arab states in recent years. In the foreseeable future, too, the Arab world appears so self-involved that the threats against Israel seem to have dropped to their lowest level in decades. Yet, the Israeli government voted Oct. 7 for its biggest defense budget ever. Even during its most difficult times, when the Egyptian and Syrian fronts were active, Israel’s defense spending never came anywhere near the level of the proposed 2015 budget. The ministers voted in favor of 65 billion shekels ($18 billion) for defense. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu steamrolled the ministers into approving an additional 15 billion shekels ($4.2 billion) this year — half of which has already been approved and the second half to be taken from the budgetary reserves designated for emergencies and unforeseen expenditures.
One thing is clear: There hasn’t been such a large defense budget proposal since the establishment of the state. Although most of Israel's fronts are quiet, to the extent of being dormant, the prime minister envisages a grim future for the region, replete with threats of an overall conflagration that could sweep up many of the states in the region. Otherwise, how does one explain the diversion of billions of shekels from civilian and social needs to weapons of war and military personnel? Does the prime minister know of dangers that we don’t? Or does he live in a world of his own?