Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has unveiled a proposed state budget that he claims will lower the cost of living by breaking up banking and retail monopolies. At a press conference, Smotrich accused banks and large companies of exploiting the economic challenges brought on by the war in the Gaza Strip to increase their profits, promising reforms to open the banking sector to more competition and reduce prices on basic goods. He insisted that these reforms are essential to the budget, warning that he will not support a budget that does not include them.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the plan, arguing that it would harm the middle class by raising taxes and continuing benefits for the ultra-Orthodox community, while failing to address government inefficiency. The budget debate is expected to be contentious, with coalition partners making additional demands and the government facing a deadline to pass the budget or risk early elections.