Israeli Treasury sounds alarm on reservist wages, major economic loss

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
24 Mar 2024 14:52
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The Israeli Security Ministry's expenditure on a single reservist is nearly double that of regular troops, forcing the Treasury's chief economist to warn against further call-ups.

Israeli occupation soldiers position themselves at the entrance to a forest area that was the site of a shooting near "Migdal Oz" in the occupied West Bank, occupied Palestine, on March 19, 2024. (AP)

Extending the service of Israeli occupation troops in the military aggression on the Gaza Strip and corresponding engagement in the supporting Lebanese front are costing the Israeli government between $7,500 to $17,000 a month per soldier, the Israeli Treasury's chief economist, Shmuel Abramzon, underlined in a report.

In a groundbreaking revelation, Abramzon revealed that total losses incurred by the Israeli economy amount to a whopping $6 billion since October 7, 2023. The report focused on the cost of extending military service for Israeli reservists and regular troops alike, as well as the economic cost of awarding Ultra-Orthodox Jews military exemption.

In detail, the high-ranking Israeli official said that the economic cost of extending the service of reservists is much higher than that of extending the service of reservists, which can amount to 1 million Shekel (around $250,000) per month.

"The precise cost cannot be made public because it is necessary to preserve the Israeli army's power system," Abarmzon explained. Israeli authorities maintain extreme restrictions and censorship over information relating to the expenditure and losses of their military, be it in terms of human or material costs incurred in confrontation with the Resistance.

The cost of war mounting on dysfunctional colonial society

His remarks come in parallel with a controversial war budget passed by the Israeli Knesset, which included highly contended expenditures and cuts, including finances allocated to the Israeli Security Ministry. These funds generated ongoing scuffles between the Finance and Security ministries, in which the latter was awarded large sums to maintain its outrageously large payroll.

The official said that extending the service of 40-45-year-old reservists costs nearly $17,000 per male troop and $10,000 for every female troop in the same age group. As for 31-39-year-olds, the cost amounts to $15,000 and $9,000 for the respective aforementioned gender groups. Finally, 22-30-year-old reservists male and female reservists cost the Israeli government $9,000 and $7,500 per month.

When comparing the median cost of reservists to that of regular troops, a huge gap in costs arises, as an individual from the former group costs "Israel" an average of $13,000 while the latter costs $7,500.

It is worth noting that Ultra-Orthodox Jews serving in the occupation's criminal military are subject to a different payment scheme, likely higher than other Israeli settlers due to added incentives. Experts have urged the government to apply mandatory conscription on Haredim students, a proposal echoed by multiple top-ranking Israeli officials, including the Security Minister, Yoav Gallant.

Meanwhile, a whopping six percent of the 16,000 Israeli businesses that closed their doors, following the war on Gaza, are a result of reservists being called up for service.

Israeli agriculture, trade take big hits

Shay Aharonovich, the Director General of the Israeli Tax Authority, told Israeli news website Ynet that the Israeli economy and real estate suffered $6 billion in losses, including $300 million in losses on the Northern Front with Lebanon, adding that officials are finding it difficult to estimate losses in areas of engagement with Lebanon's Hezbollah.

The news website pointed to the "difficult" situation in the "Metulla" settlement, near the Lebanese-Palestinian border, asserting that the colonial outpost has been completely appropriated for military purposes by occupation forces.

The agricultural settlement or kibbutz lost all 2,500 settlers who skipped harvest seasons of valuable apple and citrus fruit.

Previously, Ynet reported that Hezbollah's firepower has caused extensive financial damages to northern settlers, mainly to farmers, because they are unable to work on the farmland they had usurped from the people of northern Palestine and southern Lebanon. According to the Israeli outlet, the losses amount to 500 million shekels ($131 million).

All the way to the southern port of "Eilat" on occupied Palestine's Red Sea shoreline, the Chief Executive Officer of the port, Gideon Golber, said that he might be forced to lay off 50% of 120 full-time employees because of the losses incurred by the port, due to the Yemeni Armed Forces operations.

These operations disrupted major shipments from the Far East that the "Eilat" port processed before Sanaa began to target every Israeli-affiliated ship in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. Earlier in December, Golber said that the port saw an 85% drop in activity compared to previous months.