The Israeli economic newspaper Calcalist reported on Sunday – citing preliminary figures from the Ministry of Finance – that the cost of the war that Israel is waging against the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) in Gaza strip It will amount to up to 200 billion shekels ($51 billion).
The newspaper said that the estimate of costs equivalent to 10% of GDP is based on:
- The possibility of the war continuing from 8 to 12 months, with the matter limited to Gaza, without the full participation of Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran, or Yemen.
- On the basis of the rapid return to work of about 350,000 Israelis who were recruited into the reserve forces soon.
Calcalist added:
- Half of the cost will be in defense expenditures, which amount to about one billion shekels per day ($255 million).
- The cost of losses in terms of revenue will range between another 40 billion and 60 billion shekels.
- From 17 billion to 20 billion shekels that Israel will incur in the form of compensation for companies.
- From 10 billion to 20 billion shekels will be incurred by the occupation due to rehabilitation.
For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that the Ministry of Finance’s assessments indicate that “in the event of war, the recovery will be slow and the economy will not return to its pre-war trend.”
The newspaper added, “They in the Ministry of Finance also believe that by 2024 the economy will fall into a major recession… amid a sharp rise in spending on defense and security, and a decline in revenues, compensation, and rehabilitation.”
The same newspaper monitored the same numbers reported by the Israeli economic newspaper Calcalist.
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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had said earlier that the Israeli government was preparing an economic aid package for those affected by the war, and it would be “larger and broader” than it was during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the state is committed to helping all those affected.
He added, “My directives are clear. Open the taps and direct the money to those who need it. Even if the war imposes economic losses on us, as it is doing now, we will pay them without hesitation.”
Following the outbreak of war, Standard & Poor’s lowered its outlook for Israel’s rating to “negative,” while Moody’s and Fitch put Israel’s ratings under review for a possible downgrade.
For its part, the National Security Research Center in Tel Aviv said in a report that Israel’s war on Gaza will have a significant and long-term impact on the Israeli economy.
The report quoted the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Israel as saying that the cost of the current war far exceeds the budget of previous military operations.
The high cost of this war – according to the report – is due to the intensive mobilization of the Israeli army and the severe damage caused by the “sudden attack” on the seventh of last October, and the evacuation and reconstruction operations.
The report talked about the weakness of the shekel and the stock market, high unemployment rates, and the loss of investor confidence in Israeli government bonds.
The report said that although the government approved an aid package for workers and business owners, it is still too early to say whether this will be enough assistance for the 760,000 workers unable to work in their jobs or enable small businesses to survive.
She said Israeli Ministry of Labor Last Thursday, about 46,000 Israeli workers have been laid off since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip on October 7th.
The Ministry stated – in a statement – that there are 760,000 Israeli workers, or about 18% of the workforce, who are not working at the present time.
It was a bankJP Morgan ChaseThe American expected that the Israeli economy would shrink by 11% on an annual basis in the last three months of this year, with the escalation of the aggression on the Gaza Strip.
On the seventh of last October, the Palestinian resistance was launched – led by… Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades -The military wing of Hamas- Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” Against the occupation, Israel followed it up with a war on Gaza, which entered its 30th day.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza counted 9,500 martyrs since the beginning of the Israeli aggression, and confirmed that 70% of the victims of the aggression were women and children, noting that the occupation committed 10 major massacres during the past hours, claiming the lives of 231 martyrs.
Source : Al Jazeera + Agencies + Israeli press
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