Israel’s Gaza War Expansion to Cost $2.7 Billion More
Israeli army requests massive budget increase as war costs skyrocket, sparking concerns over national debt and civilian budget cuts.
Watan-The Israeli army has estimated the cost of resuming and expanding the war on the Gaza Strip since March 18 at 10 billion shekels (approximately $2.7 billion USD).
The Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Tuesday: “The war in Gaza resumed more than a month ago after a ceasefire, and now there is an intention to expand the war through a renewed large-scale ground maneuver, which costs a lot of money.”
It explained that “the Israeli army is already speaking about the need for a significant budget increase of around 10 billion shekels.”
It added: “In recent days, the security establishment has calculated the additional cost of prolonging and expanding the war — potentially occupying around 40% of the Gaza Strip in the coming weeks — to enhance the security of the settlements surrounding Gaza and prevent the renewal and continuation of rocket fire on Israel.”
Israel Faces Budget Strain
The paper noted that this need for a budget increase “has already been expressed in recent days by senior government officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.”
According to the newspaper, senior officials in the Ministry of Finance were shocked by the amount the Israeli army is requesting as an addition to the budget, which amounts to approximately 10 billion shekels.
It quoted a senior Finance Ministry official, who remained unnamed, as saying: “It is inconceivable that another 10 billion shekels can be allocated to an already inflated defense budget.”
The newspaper also pointed out that “it is not possible to raise taxes on citizens to cover these costs.”
It added: “At present, there is little doubt that any additional tax increases will be categorically rejected. The preferred solution, in the event of an unavoidable increase in the defense budget, will be another major cut to other government ministries’ budgets and an increase in the national budget deficit by one-tenth or two-tenths.”
Gaza War to Cost Israel $67B
Earlier this year, the Israeli economic newspaper Calcalist reported that the cost of the war on Gaza would reach approximately 250 billion shekels (about $67.57 billion USD) by the end of 2024.
The paper stated that estimates from the Bank of Israel put the cost of the war on Gaza so far at about 250 billion shekels.
It explained that the amount includes “direct security costs, large-scale civilian expenditures, and revenue losses — and that’s not all.”
With full U.S. support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 168,000 Palestinians killed or injured, most of them women and children, and over 11,000 missing.
