'Israel' eyes stabilizing staggering economy by pumping from reserves

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Atlantic Council
21 Dec 2023 22:42
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The CEO of "Eilat" Port says 95% of the total activity has been brought to a full stop as Yemen continues its operations in support of Palestine.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Carney in Souda Bay, Greece, which came under attack Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023, in the Red Sea (AP)

Recent data reveal that the Israeli occupation government has issued over five billion dollars in bonds over the last few weeks seeking to allegedly stabilize its economy, but most importantly, finance its ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip and its war crimes in the West Bank.

A recent report by the Atlantic Council indicated that "Israel" has offered a significantly higher yield on these bonds compared to what was offered in recent months. This shows that investors have sought a premium due to "the perceived risk that the war in the Strip and along other fronts could worsen and their payments might be in jeopardy."

Following the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, investors began selling off the Israeli shekel, causing a significant drop in its value, which forced the "Bank of Israel" to commit thirty billion dollars in reserves, a number they suggested is prone to increase to 45 billion, hoping to allegedly stabilize the economy.

In a separate but related context, the CEO of "Eilat" Port, Gideon Golber, spoke to GLZ, an Israeli occupation army radio, saying that from the moment Ansar Allah blocked Bab al-Mandab Strait, "the port's activity volume decreased by almost 95%."

Golber also underscored, according to Reuters, that without Bab al-Mandab, "you close the main shipping artery to Eilat Port."

When asked about Operation Prosperity Guardian, the US-led naval coalition seeking to reopen Bab al-Mandab by breaching Yemeni sovereignty, Gobler said, "If God forbid, the coalition countries and Israel lag in finding a solution for the Houthis, unfortunately, we will likely have to furlough workers."

Yemeni threats disrupt about 85% of port’s profits: 'Eilat' Port Dir.

Earlier last week, Golber confirmed, according to Israeli Channel 13, that Yemen's threat of Israeli-bound ships had "disrupted 80% to 85% of the port’s profits."

In this context, Channel 13 further reported that “the volume of imports coming from the East to Israel is estimated at approximately 350 billion shekels, equivalent to 95 billion dollars annually.”

The channel added, "Changing the maritime navigation route will raise the prices of imported products by an estimated 3%, which would increase the financial burden on the Israelis by about ten and a half billion shekels, or about 3 billion dollars."

Moreover, the Israeli Army Radio quoted Golber as saying that the Yemeni threat to the Red Sea maritime routes "led to the loss of the port by about 14,000 cars from the middle of last month until today.”

The port director further explained that "Israel fears that the closure of Bab al-Mandab to the movement of merchant vessels to Israel through the Red Sea to the port of Eilat or through the Suez Canal would prolong the travel of cargo vessels from the East to Israel about five weeks, as cargo vessels would have to circumvent the African continent at Cape of Good Hope through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Mediterranean."