Overview
- Lawmakers voted 25–50 to reject the order that would have raised the personal-imports VAT exemption to $150 from $75.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he will sign a new temporary order to reintroduce the higher exemption.
- Likud MKs including Yuli Edelstein, David Bitan, Eli Dallal, Sasson Guetta, Shalom Danino, Hanoch Milwidsky, Akram Hasson, and Osher Shkalim voted against, joined by Otzma Yehudit’s Amichai Eliyahu and Limor Son Har-Melech.
- Attendance fractured the coalition’s push as several Haredi MKs and senior ministers were absent and many ministers abstained.
- Opponents cited an estimated annual revenue loss of about one billion shekels and potential harm to local retailers, and some Likud MKs warned they may also withhold support for the conscription law.