Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip will cost as much as 200 billion shekels ($51 billion), Israeli business newspaper Calcalist reported, citing preliminary data from the finance ministry.
The report, reported by Al Jazeera, said the estimate, equal to 10 percent of GDP, was based on the assumption that the war could last between eight and 12 months, and that it would be limited to Gaza without the full involvement of Hezbollah, Iran or Yemen, and that about 350,000 Israelis were recruited as military reservists.
Therefore, Calcalist calls the ministry’s estimate of 200 billion shekels “optimistic.” However, the ministry said it was not behind Calcalist’s data.
The report states that half of the cost will amount to one billion shekels per day for defense costs; another 40 to 60 billion shekels would come from lost revenue; 17 to 20 billion for compensation for companies and ten to 20 billion shekels for rehabilitation.
