Smotrich Approves Huge Drone Defense Fund and Demands Beirut Strikes
The Israeli finance minister allocates 2 billion shekels for defense tech while pushing for aggressive retaliation against Lebanon.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the approval of a 2 billion shekel (540 million$) emergency budget to develop technological solutions against the growing threat of explosive drones launched from Lebanon.
Speaking during a visit to the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria, Smotrich, who also holds a ministerial role within the Defense Ministry, stated that the substantial funding is intended to spur creative, "out-of-the-box" technological proposals from both military and civilian sectors. However, the minister emphasized that technology alone would not suffice, calling for a shift toward aggressive, asymmetric military deterrence.
"We will not win through defense, but through offense," Smotrich said during the inauguration of the Rimon land registration system. "For every explosive drone, ten buildings must fall in Beirut. A strategic threat cannot be answered solely with protection; it requires changing the rules and the equation."
Smotrich argued that complete physical defense against drone incursions across the country is unfeasible. "We cannot deploy nets over the entire State of Israel, nor can we line it with automatic machine guns. We cannot defend ourselves to death," he stated, adding that extracting a "disproportionate cost" from the enemy must be an integral part of protecting Israeli troops.
The fiscal approval comes amid a lethal escalation in northern operations. On Monday morning, the Israel Defense Forces cleared for publication that Staff Sgt. Nehorai Leizer, 19, a combat engineer from Eilat, was killed by an explosive drone in southern Lebanon. In a separate incident, a female combat soldier was severely wounded and six other service members sustained injuries in another drone strike.
Smotrich’s heightened focus on the northern arena reflects shifting political pressures. Observers note that the finance minister is treating the Lebanese threat with immense gravity in alignment with his precarious positioning in recent political polls. Aware that public perception regarding the government's handling of northern security could jeopardize his political future in upcoming elections, Smotrich has increasingly championed aggressive military measures to satisfy an evacuated and frustrated northern electorate.
Concluding his address at the Judea and Samaria Division headquarters, Smotrich linked the security of Israel's interior to the ongoing settlement enterprise in the West Bank.
"Our presence here is the reason explosive drones are not yet reaching Jerusalem, Kfar Saba, Afula, and Beersheba," Smotrich said. "Physical grip on the ground, intelligence, determined military activity, and deterrence, that is the security zone of the State of Israel. Settlement brings security. Period."