Prime Minister Netahyahu at an Iron Dome battery. Photo: Avi Ohayon, GPO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled Monday that the Israeli defense budget will be cut by 3 billion shekels ($840 million), in lieu of the original 4-billion shekel ($1.1 billion) cut originally proposed by the Israeli Finance Ministry.

“I have decided to present the cabinet, and later on the Knesset, with a smaller cut to the defense budget to the tune of 1 billion shekels,” Netanyahu said. “This will not be made at the public’s expense. I would like to stress that the Israel Defense Forces, its soldiers, officers and weapons are vital to public security.”

Israel’s defensive front “keeps expanding and now includes the entire homefront—all of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “That is why we need the IDF to continue with its streamlining plans, but we also need more Iron Domes,” he said.