ISRAEL PERSPECTIVE

The Jerusalem Post details the budget request with an angle no one else emphasizes: the $500 billion increase includes a 5-7% raise in military salaries at a moment when thousands of soldiers are actively deployed. The Post recalls that this budget request comes just after the longest government shutdown in American history, caused by disagreement over spending. The American deficit continues to widen — the Congressional Budget Office projects a $1.853 trillion deficit for the current fiscal year, higher than the previous year's $1.775 trillion. National debt reaches $39.016 trillion. The Post notes the irony: Trump came to power promising to reduce spending, recruited Elon Musk to push 300,000 civil servants out of government — and now requests the largest military increase in decades. Israel reads this budget as a guarantee: as long as Washington invests heavily in war, the strategic partnership is locked in. But the Post is lucid enough to note that the Congressional battle will be fierce.