Unemployment rate 20% higher in northern 'Israel': Report

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
15 Dec 2023 16:32
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Deteriorating economic conditions within "Israel", specifically in the north, are a topic taking over Israeli media since the start of the war on Gaza back in October.

Israeli occupation forces drive an armored personal carrier (APC) in the northern Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona, Friday, October 20, 2023. (AP)

The unemployment rate in the north of occupied Palestine, where "Israel" is faced with the Lebanese Resistance, has become 20% higher than in other regions of "Israel".

Similar reports in Israeli media, at an earlier time, noted that since the beginning of October, 175,414 applications for unemployment benefits have been received by the Israeli occupation government including 126,564 who went on forced sick leave.

In turn, the Israeli Channel 12 website reported that since the beginning of December, 9,000 workers have been placed on forced sick leave.

This comes in light of the most recent announcement of the Israeli occupation government when it reported a budget deficit of 16.6 billion shekels ($4.5 billion) for November, according to the Israeli Finance Ministry.

The deficit, as a percentage of GDP, rose to 3.4% in November, reaching 62.3 billion shekels ($17 billion) over the previous 12 months, compared to 2.6% in October, as per Reuters.

A source within the Finance Ministry indicated that the projected deficit for 2023 is expected to conclude at approximately 4% of GDP, surpassing the targeted 0.9% set at 16.9 billion shekels in the budget approved by lawmakers in May.

Israeli aggression to impact growth

The Ministry highlighted a 15.6% decrease in revenue last month, partly attributed to tax deferments resulting from the war that commenced on October 7. November's revenue hit 30.3 billion shekels, marking the lowest monthly level of the year. Cumulatively, revenue for the first 11 months of the year reached 401.5 billion shekels, representing a 6.2% decline from the same period in the previous year.

In the broader context, the ongoing aggression is anticipated to impact growth in 2023 and 2024. Both the Ministry and the Central Bank project growth at 2% for this year and 1.6% and 2%, respectively, for 2024.

In a recent development, the Israeli Knesset preliminarily approved a war budget last week, proposing an additional 30 billion shekels for war-related spending in the remainder of 2023. However, final approval for the plan is still pending.