The emergency funding will finance 12 attack helicopters as officials scramble to meet a US deadline, with much of the money coming from a five-year program aimed at improving Arab society.

The Israeli government approved a transfer of slightly more than NIS 1 billion (over $300 million) to the Defense Ministry in a telephone vote Wednesday morning. The funds were designated for an “urgent classified procurement.”

The approved NIS 1.03 billion will help finance 12 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for the Israeli Air Force, which has pursued the acquisition for several years. In January, the United States authorized a potential $3.8 billion sale to Israel involving 30 Apache helicopters and associated equipment.

Under a draft government resolution, the money will be obtained by reducing allocations to a five-year program supporting Israel’s Arab communities. The planned reductions include NIS 169 million ($55 million) in 2027, NIS 342 million ($111 million) in 2028, and NIS 453 million ($147 million) in 2029.

The decision follows weeks of intense budget disagreements between the Defense and Finance ministries. Media reports, apparently based on briefings from defense officials, had indicated that Israel missed the deadline for finalizing its Apache agreement with Boeing. As a result, delivery could be postponed by several years, with another buyer potentially taking Israel’s place in the production schedule.

According to Channel 12, Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed his ministry’s director general last Thursday to contact the US Defense Department and request another extension for the helicopter purchase. The request followed four previous extensions, with the latest deadline expiring last week. American officials reportedly told Jerusalem it had until Wednesday to finalize the agreement, prompting an urgent effort to secure the necessary funding.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich proposed the budget changes despite reportedly opposing the helicopter purchase.

Speaking at a summit organized by the Association of Investment Houses, Smotrich described the agreement as a “mistake,” according to the business publication Globes, and said he had expressed his opposition to fellow cabinet ministers.

Smotrich argued that sophisticated drones could perform the missions assigned to attack helicopters. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on proceeding with the Apache acquisition.

The finance minister said the government had approved the purchase in August based on a financial plan. However, the sudden need to make the payment forced officials to find an immediate funding solution. He explained that “we found a temporary budget source,” while also pointing out that the current government had never endorsed the five-year development plan for Arab society.

The NIS 30 billion ($8.3 billion) initiative was launched in 2021 under the short-lived government led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. The Social Equality Ministry was assigned primary responsibility for implementing the program, which sought to narrow longstanding disparities between Arab and Jewish communities in areas including housing, law enforcement and economic development after decades of neglect.

The program has already faced funding reductions. Last December, the government redirected NIS 220 million ($68.5 million) from the initiative to the police to address what officials described as “severe nationalistic crime” in Arab communities.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military expenditures have climbed sharply as the country continues costly fighting in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, alongside operations in Yemen. These military commitments followed the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, assault. The Israel Defense Forces has also pushed to expand its personnel and capabilities after deficiencies were exposed during the attack and the subsequent conflicts.

The national budget approved in March allocated a record NIS 143 billion ($45.8 billion) to the Defense Ministry, representing approximately 17 percent of total government spending.

In July, the Finance Ministry announced an agreement with the Defense Ministry to immediately provide the military with another NIS 15 billion ($5.01 billion). The additional funding followed IDF warnings that numerous military units were at risk of being grounded because of financial constraints.

Channel 12 has also reported that the government is considering cutting another NIS 2.5 billion from ministries across the board to finance defense procurement.

The network, citing sources, reported that the defense establishment faces a NIS 40 billion shortfall in its 2026 budget, adding to pressure on the government to find additional money for military needs.