Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz delayed the first cabinet meeting over the 2013 budget, which was scheduled to take place this week.

They announced the first deliberation would take place on September 2, and a final discussion will be held on September 17, after the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) holiday, local media reported on Wednesday.

Netanyahu and Steinitz both doubt they have enough support to pass on further cuts on the ministries' budgets and are afraid of a public backlash against the cuts, part of austerity measures taken to reduce the burgeoning deficit.

The main issue at hand is how to squeeze between 13 billion shekels (3.23 billion U.S. dollars) and 15 billion shekels (3.73 billion U.S. dollars) cuts in the ministries' spending next year.

Budget talks usually take place in July and the cabinet members vote on the proposed package in August. This is the first delay of its kind in more than a decade.

Local media reported that Steinitz is trying to avoid cutting the budget for education and infrastructure, which will result in public criticism, and is aiming to cut 3 billion shekels (0.75 billion U.S. dollars) from the defense budget.

The Finance and Defense ministries locked horns earlier this month around a 11.5-billion-shekel (2.86 billion U.S. dollars) gap between both ministries' budget recommendations.