Naftali Bennett, Prime Minister-designate, speaks at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, during a special session whereby a confidence vote will be held to approve and swear-in a new coalition government, in Jerusalem June 13, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 News – After adopting a state budget in November for the first time in more than three years, for the years 2021 and 2022, the ruling coalition in Israel is looking to get ahead of the 2023 and 2024 budgets, Israel’s Channel 12 reported Wednesday.

According to the reporting, the government plans to put the next biennial budget to a vote next May to send the message that the current coalition is stable, despite the differences and ideological oppositions of the parties that make it up.

The initiative, launched by Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin (New Hope), is said to be favored by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, according to Channel 12.

The idea is to vote on the budgets at a time when all the deputies of the majority are relatively united, while the coalition shows few signs of division.

In November, Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passed budgets for the years 2021 and 2022 by a small majority. The vote, however, strengthened the unlikely ruling alliance of eight ideologically disparate parties.

Had the Knesset failed to pass a budget by the deadline, it would have been dissolved and an election would have been automatically called.

The $197 billion spending plan passed in 2021 was the first budget adopted by Israel since 2018, amid a prolonged political stalemate that saw successive governments fall before they could present a budget proposal to the Knesset.