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Report details Israeli economic 'losses' due to war on Gaza, West Bank

By Janna Kadri
Source: Wall Street Journal + Al Mayadeen English
23 Dec 2023 21:23
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The mobilization of about 400,000 Israeli reservists and the relocation of approximately 250,000 Israelis due to security concerns have disrupted regular work routines.

A Palestinian home sits in a valley, located next to the east A-Quds Israeli settlement of "Pisgat Ze'ev", Thursday, May 12, 2022 (AP)

"You wake up one morning and one-third of your workers are gone," Nir Yanushevsky, the owner of a real estate company, told WSJ writer Omar Abdul Baqui.

The Israeli regime claimed that the measure of imposing restrictions on Palestinian workers from entering Israeli-occupied Palestinian lands since 1948 was introduced as a means to safeguard national security as a result of the October 7 operation.

Labor market disruptions and business closures

Elsewhere in the piece, writer Omar Abdel-Baqui says that the Israeli war on Gaza and the West Bank has had significant economic implications and that the decision to restrict over 100,000 Palestinian workers from entering the Israeli-administered territories has affected the regime's labor market.

Moreover, the mobilization of about 400,000 Israeli reservists and the relocation of approximately 250,000 Israelis due to security concerns have disrupted regular work routines. The absence of workers has further cost the Israeli economy an estimated $3.6 billion by mid-November, impacting some sectors suffering serious losses, including the tech industry.

The war is forecasted to lead to the closure of around 30,000 small- and medium-sized Israeli businesses, the WSJ report says, adding that the West Bank's economy has suffered a heavy 37% decline in production, resulting in a $500 million monthly loss.

In sum, the suspension of Palestinian work permits has contributed to an economic crisis in the West Bank, leading to the loss of approximately 208,000 jobs.

Palestinian dependency on the Israeli job market, An analysis

First of all, speaking in reference to the construction sector which Mustafa Irzikat is part of, it is important to note that from its inception, the Israeli economy experienced a somewhat steady annual real growth rate which led to increased employment opportunities for Palestinians displaced from their land, especially in the construction sector.

Particularly in the 1970s, the economic subordination and forced integration of the West Bank with "Israel" led to essential commodity prices exceeding those observed in the Israeli economy.

This is explained by the fact that the main traded commodity is the military occupation which contributes to the securitization of imperialism. Occupation, as in the case of Zionist colonization, effectively weakens the bargaining power of the occupied individual, and it determines the price it desires for the desired commodity - through violent means.

In productivity terms, the output per Israeli worker/soldier engaged in the territory through imperial rents surpasses the returns of any civilian-end-use commodities. In other words, the economic gains or outcomes for "Israel" from the involvement of its workforce or military in the occupied territory are greater than the benefits obtained from other civilian economic activities or goods.

With commuting expenses and land confiscation, the West Bank's standard of living has generally deteriorated due to constraints on economic development and rising prices.

Occupational Strategies

Establishing a pool of Palestinian wage labor reliant on the Israeli job market is an effective method of occupation. The per unit return on militaristic investment, encompassing expenditures on repression and wars, increases due to the social and economic securitization of the West Bank.

The impoverishment of Palestinians resonates regionally, not due to propinquity but for class reasons, reasons that exude immeasurable levels of racism on the part of the global West and "Israel."

"Israel's" objective is not to restore the West Bank's value and resources that sustain the community. In fact, the hollowing of Palestine, involving depopulation measures such as expulsion and reduced life expectancy compared to historical averages, is customary of colonial practices.

Accumulation through Occupation

Amidst occupation, a trajectory tainted not only by violent measures aimed at diminishing wages but also marked by the historical violence initiated by the early Zionist migrants and later continued by the occupying soldiers in the West Bank serves as a realm for accumulation.

The expulsion and migration of European Jews, constituting a significant deportation event, parallel the expulsion and migration of Palestinians, forming another substantial deportation.

In the West Bank, a constant presence of thousands of Israeli soldiers, functioning as both workers and migrants, is observed.

Their employment is linked to the militaristic aspects of imperialism, characterized by accumulation through dispossession, a major source of surplus value.