IOF ‘Unready’ for Future Wars Without Budget Increase

By Staff, Agencies

"Israeli" occupation forces [IOF] officials have reportedly acknowledged that the IOF is not prepared for new wars unless it receives urgent budget boost.

"Israel's" Ynet news outlet reported on Friday that the officials had warned the treasury that they need investments in the military industry and munitions stockpiles to compensate for the heavy toll that the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip has taken on the entity’s economy in the past more than two years.

The IOF initially planned for a war lasting about one month, with an optional two-week extension, allegedly against the Hamas resistance group in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the report said.

However, the war has dragged on across several fronts, forcing "Israel" to rely on over 900 cargo aircraft and 150 supply ships—mostly from the US—to replenish basic equipment.

The report also noted that the occupation officers had censured the treasury for resisting the transfer of funds needed for force buildup and weapons production, despite lessons learned since October 2023.

In September, the "Israeli" parliament [Knesset] voted to allocate an additional 30.8 billion shekels [$9.2 billion] to war spending in order to cover the costs incurred from "Israel’s" Gaza onslaught and the 12-day aggression against Iran in June.

The supplementary budget allocation raised "Israel’s" overall expenditure from 756 billion shekels [$228 billion] to 787 billion shekels [$237 billion] for 2025. It also increased the budget deficit to 5.2% of gross domestic product [GDP] from the current cap of 4.9%.

Additionally, the report said the IOF's officials had warned that the added funds already received are far from sufficient.

“We need to move to the force-building stage—acquiring high-end systems, smart bombs, air defense interceptors," one of the officials said, noting that the adversaries’ missiles may cost $400,000, but each Arrow 3 interceptor costs $3 million and takes months to produce."

Another official said "Israel" faces rising risks currently as Iran is “undergoing rapid recovery, the Gaza ceasefire is fragile, Lebanon sees daily attacks, Turkey is eyeing Syria, the eastern border is exposed and the West Bank is simmering.”

Meanwhile, "Israeli" officials said that they are unable to publicly detail the IOF’s exact needs or equipment gaps, for fear of exposing vulnerabilities.