Ministry of Finance director general Ilan Rom hurled sharp criticism today at the management of the defense budget by the Ministry of Defense and the IDF. In a speech at the accountant general’s conference in Jerusalem, Rom said, “Defense expenditure has to have a ceiling, and sometimes it seems that the ceiling is so high that it’s invisible. When there’s no ceiling, there’s no efficiency and no cost cutting.”
Rom, formerly a senior officer in the Mossad, stressed that although the economy had given “the required backing” to defense, and would continue to do so “until decisive victory and of course until all of the hostages are brought home,” the time had come for a change of approach, following the military achievements. “Since the outbreak of the Swords of Iron war, in 2023-2025, the defense budget has expanded a great deal,” he said, and added, “This is a huge sum that the citizens of Israel need for services, infrastructure, and growth.”
Rom cited a significant change in the array of threats as a basis for his call for streamlining in defense. “The main threat from Iran has been destroyed, or least significantly delayed; Hezbollah is becoming weaker and is no longer the strong army it once was; Hamas, which remains to be vanquished, is weaker and more fragmented than ever; in Syria there is no army and no state,” he said. He made clear that “Streamlining does not mean foregoing security – rather, it’s a condition for sustainable security.”
Rom particularly criticized the IDF’s management of reserve duty days. “The economic management of reserve duty days has been unchecked, with no controls, and often diverges from the rules of proper administration,” he claimed. “Dispensing reserve duty days to anyone who wants like legal tender without serious consideration and responsibility has consequences for the entire economy,” he said.
Rom’s remarks come at a time when the Ministry of Finance is having to advance an updated 2025 budget in the Knesset that will expand government spending by NIS 31 billion and swell the fiscal deficit to 5.2% of GDP, in order to cope with the cost of the continuing war.
The updated budget is at the stage of discussion in the Knesset Finance Committee, before it is finally approved by the Knesset plenum. It may be, however, that this is not the final word. The extra amount is meant to cover operations that have already ended, while the current operation to conquer Gaza City is not included in the revision to the budget, and there may need to be a further breach of the spending limit by the end of the year.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on September 15, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
