With Israel’s war against Hamas costing the economy around $260 million every day, payouts to ultra-orthodox schools and other causes championed by right-wingers in the ruling coalition have set off a reckoning for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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But the 43-year-old, who heads an ultra-nationalist party, also wants to maintain 1.2 billion shekels earmarked for a teacher pay bump at orthodox schools while moving ahead with more spending on settlements — financing he said is “necessary for protection” at a time when tensions in the West Bank are increasing.