Senior officials of the Israeli Finance Ministry warned – yesterday, Monday, that the war in the Gaza Strip and mobilizing tens of thousands of Israeli reserve soldiers may impose new financial burdens on the Israelis, noting the high cost of resuming widespread military operations.
The Israeli “Yedioth Ahronoth” quoted finance officials – whose identities did not reveal – that with the possibility that the cost of returning to the war in Gaza exceeds 15.4 billion shekels (4.1 billion dollars), major discounts in the budget of all government ministries may be necessary, which strongly affects public services, while financial officials study new taxes not listed with a budget of 2024, in a challenge to previous positions of financial leaders And taxes.
The operational cost
According to the estimates of the Israeli army, the daily operational cost recently decreased to about 22 million dollars due to the limited deployment of reserve soldiers, and may rise to more than 70 million dollars if multiple backup teams are mobilized and published throughout Gaza.
The Israeli newspaper quoted a senior official in the Ministry of Finance, as saying, “The government does not discuss financial losses, but rather the goals of the process and defeat Hamas in a dodging manner, which has not been achieved for 19 months,” the Israeli newspaper quoted a senior official in the Ministry of Finance.
“The cost of mobilizing tens of thousands of reserve soldiers will be exorbitant, and will inevitably harm economic growth,” he added.
An economic official warned that the renewed attack may be amended by more credit rating discounts, after 3 major discounts earlier this year.
According to the newspaper, there are concerns about the broader economic impact of between 30 thousand and 50 thousand reserve soldiers from the labor market and higher education institutions.
To cover additional costs, the Israeli budget deficit may increase from 4.9% to at least 5.1%, which requires 3.5% reduction in government purchasing budgets.
Tax proposals
Despite the urgent need, the Knesset Financial Committee has so far refused to approve new tax proposals formulated by the Tax Authority, and financial officials say that the government should pressure the committee chairman Moshe Gavni, to agree to a package expected to generate at least $ 830 million.
This plan targets black market funds, the real estate sector, environmental taxes, and a tougher application of tax laws.
Gavni’s measures are now re -pushed, and includes mandatory reporting of all rental revenues, full transparency from platforms such as Airbnb and restrictions on cash transactions in financial institutions, and changes in tax bases for subsidiary companies.
