Israeli stocks plummet in value amid fears of escalation in North
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The Tel Aviv Stock Market has witnessed a drastic decrease in its stock prices, affecting several sectors, including the oil and gas industry.
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A man is seen at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Tel Aviv, Palestine, 2011 (AFP)
Israeli stock prices drastically plummeted on Sunday amid fears of a full-scale war against Hezbollah, Israeli Channel 12 reported.
Against the backdrop of developments on the northern front on the border with Lebanon, the Tel Aviv stock market saw sharp declines in the main indices.
The TA 35 index lost 1.7% of its value, while the TA 90 index decreased by about 2.3%.
Tel Aviv Bank and Oil/Gas shares lost 1.9% and 3.3% of their values, respectively.
Since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, 46,000 Israeli businesses have closed, according to the Israeli Coface Bdi company.
The company, specializing in business information for credit risk management, has been analyzing and ranking businesses and companies in the Israeli economy for approximately 35 years.
According to Maariv, Yoel Amir, the CEO of Coface Bdi, explained that the number is considered high and encompasses many sectors, with about 77% of the businesses closed since the beginning of the war, i.e. around 35,000 small businesses with up to five employees.
War expansion north could lead to 'economic darkness': Israeli media
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, in a report, talked about the "economic darkness" scenario, which deals with the risks of a potential all-out war in the north on the security of the Israeli occupation's capital market, starting from cyber attacks and continuous hacks, through the fear of data leaks and the interruption of vital services, to the flight of investors in the stock market.
In detail, the newspaper reported that in addition to the rush for generators and emergency food supplies due to the fear of war in the north, "there are those working around the clock to fortify the defense wall of the capital market against the threat of an attack that could shake the Israeli economy."
"Such a scenario is not separated from reality," read the newspaper. According to the Cyber Warfare Formation's report during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, "so far this year, more than 3,380 cyber attacks have been launched against companies traded on the Israeli stock exchange, 800 of which were identified as potentially damaging."
The Formations' report noted receiving 13,040 reports throughout 2023, verified as cyber events from civilians and organizations. It added that 68% of these attacks "occurred during the Gaza war (from October 7 to December), representing a 43% increase in attack reports compared to 2022."
