(INN).There is no need to increase the country's defense budget, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said Monday - because Israel's Arab enemies are too disorganized and too broke to start a war.
Steinitz was speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday, which was discussing a request by the Defense Ministry for a further increase in its budget for the coming year.
“The Middle East is currently facing a major crisis, On the one hand there is more instability in the region, and a higher likelihood of terror because of the loss of control by governments. And we face the threats of missiles – nuclear and conventional – from Iran and Syria.
“On the other hand, there is no doubt that the Arab states around us are weaker, militarily and certainly economically, to the extent that their ability to enter into an arms race with us will be very limited over at least the next 5 to 10 years. Some of these countries are near bankruptcy."