JERUSALEM: Israel has been presented with a hefty bill for 50 days of war in Gaza, as the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, moved to slash government spending by 2 percent this year to offset the $2.52bn (£1.51bn) cost of the conflict.
With only the Israeli military and domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet exempt from the sharp spending reductions, the area to be hit hardest emerged as the Israeli education system, with critics — including members of Netanyahu’s cabinet — predicting that the poorest Israelis will feel the brunt of the cuts.
Among those protesting was the welfare minister, Meir Cohen, who insisted there was no more fat in his budget to trim. “From whom will we take? From those who have nothing to put in their children’s sandwiches for school?” he complained.
Amid estimates by some economic observers that the war may have cost Israel a decline of 0.5 percent in its growth in GDP, Netanyahu defended the stringent across-the-board cuts before a cabinet meeting, insisting: “Security comes first.”
The proposed emergency budget reductions, amounting to about $561m, will help fund a sharp hike in the budget of Israel’s armed forces and Shin Bet amid estimates that the latest round of fighting in Gaza cost Israel $50m for each day of the war.
On the Palestinian side experts have estimated that the bill for reconstruction after the conflict could be upwards of $6bn and take 20 years to accomplish under the current Israeli and Egyptian restrictions on imports of building materials into Gaza.
The budget cuts come amid evidence that Israel’s economy had been hard hit by the weeks of conflict, not least tourism. The new austerity programme emerged amid continuing criticism by Israelis of Netanyahu and his government, whose approval has plummeted since a long-term cease fire with Hamas was agreed last week.
THE GUARDIAN
