GFH partners acquire $150m worth of assets in Saudi Arabia and UAE

The Israeli war in the Gaza Strip will cost 200 billion shekels ($51 billion), the financial newspaper Calcalist reported, citing preliminary figures from the Finance Ministry.

This amounts to 10% of gross domestic product and assumes the war will last eight to twelve months, will be limited to the Gaza Strip without the full involvement of Hezbollah, Iran or Yemen, and some 350,000 Israelis drafted into the reserves will soon return to work, the newspaper said.

Half of the costs will be for defense, which amounts to about 1 billion shekels a day. Another 40-60 billion shekels will be lost due to lower revenues, 17-20 billion will go to compensate businesses, and 10-20 billion shekels will be spent on''rehabilitation.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said earlier that the Israeli government is preparing an economic aid package for victims of Palestinian attacks that will be "bigger and broader" than during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the state is committed to helping all those affected. "My directive is clear: open the taps and direct the funds to those who need them," he said, without giving specific numbers. "Just like we did during COVID. We have built a very strong economy over the last decade, and even if war demands an economic price from us, as it does, we will pay it without hesitation. "

In the wake of the war, S&P downgraded Israel's rating outlook to "negative," while Moody'\'s and Fitch''have put Israel's ratings under review for possible downgrade. The financial losses are already significant. Israeli stocks are the worst performers in the global market since the fighting began.

The cost of protecting against further losses has risen sharply. Household spending has collapsed, dealing a huge blow to the consumption sector, which accounts for about half''is heavily dependent on the 80,000 Palestinians living in the West Bank, which has been under a security regime since mid-September and where the situation has worsened after Israeli airstrikes and a near-total blockade of Gaza. A halt in construction and real estate, which account for 6 percent of Israel's tax revenue, would slow government revenues and could trigger a new rise in housing prices, which in recent years have been among the most expensive in Europe and the Middle East, according to Bloomberg.

About 15% of Israeli tech workers have been drafted into military service, estimates the CEO of Startup Nation Central, a nonprofit organization that tracks the industry. The numbers are even higher among startups, which typically hire young workers,''said. The head of Mica, an artificial intelligence firm specializing in mammography analysis, Lior Vine, said he was trying to keep work as normal as possible after several employees were affected by the attacks.

One of 500 high-tech companies surveyed last week, nearly half reported canceling or delaying an investment agreement. Among respondents, which included both domestic and international companies, more than 70% said significant projects were postponed or canceled. While companies say they are learning to adapt, the situation for many indicates that the crisis will leave long-term scars on Israel's economy.