(JPost) The critical government tax bill that is part of the 2025 budget passed by a single vote in the Knesset on Tuesday, 59-58, after Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen voted alongside the coalition.

United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Tessler, who had initially agreed to abstain from voting, voted against the bill in the third reading.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at Knesset on Tuesday afternoon after leaving Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem to vote for the bill, which was in danger of not passing. The decision to leave was apparently against the advice of doctors.

After the bill was passed, Netanyahu wrote, “Today, despite the challenges, we passed important budgetary legislation for Israel’s security and economy. There is no greater act of irresponsible folly than shaking the coalition at this time or risking the downfall of a right-wing government.”

The prime minister commended Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, saying that they “have been steering Israel’s economy through the longest and most expensive war in Israel’s history in a responsible and professional manner.”