Israeli estimates indicate that the losses incurred by the home front, the private and public sector, and damage to public private property as a result of the "Wall Guard" military campaign will be times greater than the losses incurred by the economy during Operation "Cast Lead" in 2014, which spanned 51 days of fighting.
These estimates are based on an official preliminary report published by the Tax Authority, whereby it documented and stripped the losses incurred by the economy during 4 days of the bombing and missile bursts launched by the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza, as part of the operation it called "the Sword of Jerusalem."
The tax authority's preliminary statistics focused on losses during the first four days only, from Monday the tenth of May until the evening of last Friday, as it became clear that the losses amounted to half the size of the losses counted during the 2014 aggression on Gaza, while the costs of the current military campaign have doubled And it continues to rise compared to previous military operations launched on the besieged sector.
Losses and costs
According to the tax authority's statistics, by Friday evening, the damage caused by the "guard of the walls" operation amounted to 33 million dollars to the private property of settlers, and about 20 million more to public property, while the cost of the military operation and fighting for the occupation army amounted to 500 million dollars within 4 days, and it is increasing. At a high rate every day of the fighting, and these sums do not include the costs of the raids, bombings, damage and losses that were recorded until Monday morning.
This census does not include the additional massive damage to public facilities, public buildings, roads, fences, lighting, traffic lights and other infrastructure, as the damage to public property has not yet been estimated, and those damages are estimated at tens of millions of dollars at least and perhaps more, and estimates will be made for them in the coming days. .
The website of the newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" stated that this is a high cost to the budget of the country that suffers from a large deficit due to the severe economic crisis that resulted from the Corona pandemic, and the political impasse in light of the failure of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to form a stable government, which caused the lack of approval. On the state budget for two years, the costs, losses and damages of the military campaign will deepen the deficit in the public budget.
According to the newspaper, the direct losses and damages to property amounted to 60 million dollars during the "Cast Lead" military campaign, which lasted 51 days, while the size of indirect damages to private institutions and the closure of workshops, companies, factories and government offices was estimated at 300 million.
In light of these high costs of the military campaign, the Ministry of Finance held a discussion on the expenses and costs of the "Guardian of the Walls" operation, and based on previous experience, it is likely that in the coming days, large sums of money will be transferred to the Ministry of Defense, which could reach one billion dollars.
The rocket barrages of the Palestinian factions from Gaza have inflicted heavy losses on Israel (Anatolia)
Estimates and implications
For its part, the economic newspaper "The Marker" monitored the initial losses and damages and the commercial, economic and educational paralysis that struck Israel. The losses of the capital market and the stock exchange in Tel Aviv were estimated at 28%, and 30% of the factories and workshops in the "Gaza Strip" settlements stopped operating in a regular manner. Overall, 17% of the factories in the rest of the areas in southern Israel and the Tel Aviv region partially stopped working, and studies were suspended in 70% of schools, universities and educational institutions.
The newspaper, referring to the indirect damages that cannot be taken away until after the end of the war and the expected repercussions on the Israeli economy, explained that the flights were suspended at Ben Gurion airports in Lod and Ramon in Umm Al Rashrash (Eilat), which prompted international companies to cancel Thousands of tourist packages that were scheduled for Israeli hotels this May.
She touched on the losses in the energy sector resulting from the targeting of energy facilities in southern Israel, and the suspension of work in the "Tamar" natural gas field off the coast of Haifa, whose gas reserves are estimated at 300 billion cubic meters, according to a decision by Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz.