Israel will boost defense expenditure by 42 billion shekels ($12.5 billion) over the next two years to meet the costs of last month’s war with Iran and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

The head of an Israeli parliamentary committee told the Finance Ministry on Thursday to come up with a compensation plan by next week for Israelis stranded abroad during last month's war with Iran or the panel would impose one.

Hardline ideologues, who advocate for perennial enmity with the west, have railed against the possibility of re-engaging with the US and attacked Iran’s reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian, who this week suggested he remained amenable to negotiations with Washington.