Israel Budget Planning at Impasse With Government Split

The drafting of Israel’s 2020 budget is on hold, according to people familiar with the matter, even as disputes over the spending plan threaten to bring the government down.

Work has been suspended, they said, as politicians bicker over whether to draft a one-year plan or stick to the two-year format outlined in the coalition agreement underpinning the government. In the meantime, Finance Ministry bureaucrats are holding preliminary discussions on a possible two-year budget, they said, even though Finance Minister Israel Katz has maintained only a 2020 plan is in the works.