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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel must address the historical changes taking place in the Middle East while prioritizing the defense budget, speaking at the beginning of a special cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
"The threats directed at the State of Israel are changing and we need to be prepared for that," Netanyahu said. "We need to ensure that the security Israeli citizens have enjoyed in the past three-and-a-half years continues through the changing conditions."
The discussion, he continued, is about prioritizing components of the defense budget in Israel\’s long-term defense planning, not about nitpicking over every clause or cent in the budget.
The cuts, he said, are necessary in order to pass the 2013 budget.
Israel has managed its budget and fiscal policy responsibly in the past decade, which allowed it to weather the storm brought on by a global financial crisis, Netanyahu asserted, adding, that responsibility in the budget framework must be maintained.