ALBAWABA - The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that since Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip is still having a significant negative impact on exports and investments, the country's economy performed far more poorly in the second quarter of the year than first anticipated.
Israel's economic development has been adversely affected by rising military spending, declining tourism, and the expenses of paying reserve troops and evacuated individuals as a consequence of the 11-months-long aggression on Gaza, as reported by The Times of Israel.
In an attempt to calm fears, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the economic harm is only short-term. However, Israel's most lethal and devastating war against the Palestinians has damaged thousands of small enterprises and undermined foreign confidence in the Israeli economy.
The statistics office reports in its second estimate that the gross domestic product (GDP) rose by an annual 0.7 percent in the April to June period over the preceding three months. This is a downward adjustment from its original estimate of 1.2% announced on August 18. The number falls far short of the 2.3% to 5% range that economists had predicted for the quarter.
The Ministry of Finance has revised down its estimate of economic growth for the current and next year. It now projects 1.1% and 4.4% GDP growth in 2024 and 2025, respectively. This is less than the 1.9% and 4.6% growth estimates for 2024 and 2025 that were previously stated.
Israel's former head of the central bank, who is currently the vice president of research at the Israel Democracy Institute stated “The economy right now is under huge uncertainty, and it’s related to the security situation — how long the war will go on, what the intensity will be and the question of whether there will be further escalation,” as reported by the Associated Press.
So far, the Israeli military has been responsible for the killing of at least 41,226 Palestinians and the injury of 95,413 more throughout its aggression on Gaza strip since October 7, according to official statistics by the Health Ministry of Gaza.
