Itay Epshtain

BREAKING: #Israel's government gears for high-intensity hostilities throughout 2026-2029. A short thread on government spending - approved last night - that could only mean open-ended war in #Palestine, and the wider Middle East.

1/4 In 2022, Israel allocated 93 billion ILS (28 billion USD) to military and security-related spending, which includes the cost of its belligerent occupation of #Palestinian territory (determined to be unlawful by the @CIJ_ICJ in July 24').

2/4 For the fiscal years 2026-2027 it allocated 140 billion ILS (43 billion USD), per year, to military spending. A 50.5 percent increase,  accounting for 21.2 percent of the total State budget, overshooting all other countries but Ukraine.

3/4 A footnote to the State budget reveals the rational for the dramatic and sustained increase and the prospects of perpetual war. The findings and recommendations of the Nagel Commission.

4/4 the Nagel Commission (chaired by former National Security Advisor Prof. Jacob Nagel) suggested an overhaul towards a proactive attack posture and increased budget appropriation. This is what an even more aggressive Israel is going to look like:

PS. Nagel foreshadowed the Israel-Iran War (my analysis below), and the formation of the 96th Division, a territorial unit mobilized in unprecedented force alongside the Eastern frontier.

PSS. @newsisrael13 reveals this evening recent recordings of new Mossad Chief alleging that #Jordan @ForeignMinistry will, within the next two years, fall to Iran and pose a major threat to Israel, a thesis promoted by Nagel.