The Israeli Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday that Israel spent about 100 billion shekels ($28 billion) on wars in 2024, a figure that sharply raised the volume of government borrowing and the country’s debt burden.
The ratio of public debt to GDP rose to 69% at the end of last year from 61.3% in 2023.
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The percentage has risen by 9% over the past two years, largely due to Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah’s war in Lebanon.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the decline in Israel’s debt-to-GDP ratio when the war on Gaza began in 2023 provided flexibility that allowed financing to support the displaced population, companies and reserve forces.
“The debt-to-GDP ratio in 2024 reflects the government’s strong response to the needs of the war on the security and civilian fronts,” Israeli Accountant General Yali Rotenberg said, adding that it should return to the downward path “as soon as possible.”
Total government debt rose to 1.33 trillion shekels ($374.13 billion) last year from 1.13 trillion shekels ($317.87 billion) in 2023, and government spending last year amounted to 621 billion shekels ($174.68 billion), of which 100 billion shekels ($28.13 billion). ) on military operations.
Since the start of the war on Gaza, Israel has collected 360 billion shekels ($101.26 billion), including 272 billion ($76.5 billion) locally and 83 billion ($23.34 billion) globally.
Israel collected 160 billion shekels ($45 billion) in 2023 and 63 billion ($17.72 billion) in 2022.
“The ability to raise debt via debt on a large scale is a result of Israel’s well-developed and well-established capital market, as well as the strong economy and stable financial system,” Rotenberg said.
Doubt
It is worth noting that US President Donald Trump said yesterday at his inauguration that he was not confident that the ceasefire agreement in Gaza would hold, despite his boast before his inauguration of the role he played in reaching it.
When a journalist asked him upon his return to the White House whether the two parties to the conflict would adhere to the truce and move forward to sign a full agreement, Trump responded by saying, “I am not confident” about that.
He added: “This is not our war, it is their war. But I am not confident.”
