How much is that action in the window?

If you ask an actuary or insurance adjuster, a price can be put on anything at all, whether it’s a leftover chicken sandwich or your cat’s life. When it comes to consumer goods, it’s easy enough. It’s when you try to put a price on damage wreaked by decisions that you wade into thornier territory, but that is exactly what is happening in two of the lead stories in Israel’s press Sunday morning.

The stories, appearing as leads to Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz respectively, share no obvious link, but in reporting on an American philanthropist cutting off the spigot in reaction to the Western Wall reversal and cabinet support for the conversion bill, and a new Israeli initiative to sue family members of Palestinian terrorists for damages, both look at how non-economic decisions can impact the wallet nonetheless.

For days Yedioth has been pushing the potential cost of rich Americans’ disgust with the government decisions, first putting a $1 billion price tag on it, and then predicting how many people will lose jobs etc. On Sunday, the paper is able to add some meat to its hoopla-mongering, reporting that Miami philanthropist Ike Fisher is unhappy and will not be giving his millions to Israel or working with AIPAC on Israel’s behalf anymore.

Under the headline ”a first crack in the wall,” the paper reports that Fisher is demanding a refund on a million dollars in Israel Bonds he just bought and stopping fundraising for Israel, which could affect a Tel Aviv University scholarship program and programs in Or Akiva and Yeruham.

“They’ve done a serious thing here when they’ve disrespected our rabbis and community leaders and told them ‘you don’t count,’ and to our women saying ‘your Judaism isn’t Jewish. This is intolerable and we need to put an end to it,” he’s quoted saying in the paper.

Have no fear, though, all is being righted, at least according to Israel Hayom’s lead story, which quotes Dear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the front page pleading the equivalent of “can’t we all just get along.”

“Peace within the Jewish people is important to me, both as prime minister and as a member of the Jewish people,” the paper quotes him saying in an article about the decision to freeze the conversion bill for six months.

In a column for the paper, Yehuda Shlesinger notes that even had Netanyahu not given the angry liberal American Jews this little bone, there’s nothing they could have done to stop the Haredi train and its political hay-making.

“The Reform are Jews who are trying to bring in a different stream and asking for legitimate rights as a minority, but they aren’t strong enough to force their stream upon all of Israel and don’t represent a reason to break up the government,” he writes.

But in Haaretz’s op-ed page, economist Dan Ben-David makes like a prophet of doom and writes that those in control now would be smart to plan for a day when they don’t enjoy so much power.

“Not only will most of America’s Jews abandon you, so will young educated Israelis – secular and religious – who believe in the importance of critical thinking, free speech and equal opportunities, those who currently carry on their shoulders most of the burden of maintaining a viable Israel,” he writes. “Maybe consideration for others isn’t a key attribute of the Haredim or the settlers, and maybe you belittle our values and beliefs. But understand that these are what makes possible your physical existence in this region. Unless you have a plan for the day after, when you’ll be abandoned by the developed world and your Israeli counterparts, you need to internalize where your path is leading.”

If Israel is worried about a lack of cash flow from rich Americans, it may have a new source: families of terrorists. Haaretz reports that the state is suing the widow of an East Jerusalem man who plowed his truck into a group of soldiers in the capital last year, killing four.

The paper notes that the state is seeking NIS 2 million from the woman and her children, who are minors, to recoup the costs of extra security and payouts to the bereaved families, and there’s more on the way.

“This is the first suit of a series of similar suits to be filed soon against the families of terrorists,” the paper reports.

If Israel really wanted to pinch pennies, it would have to stop shooting missile interceptors, which cost tens of thousands of dollars each. Of course, that is fine and well so long as there are no rockets heading Israel’s way, a luxury the state doesn’t quite have but surely would enjoy. In Yedioth, analyst Yossi Yehoshua examines the debate between Israeli military officials over whether to take down a missile manufacturing concern set up by Iran in Lebanon, and risk the outbreak of war.

Predicting a third Lebanon war in which Tel Aviv towers are targeted, inviting an “awesome” response against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Yehoshua asks what effect a preemptive strike on this factory might have.

“The big question is if, given development in Lebanon, one cannot discount the possibility that Israel will exact a preemptive preventative strike that won’t only hit the factories, but also silence a large part of Hezbollah’s offensive abilities, so that it will be clear as anything who will win the war,” he writes. “Those making decisions need to take into account the best intelligence picture and know how much an opening strike will damage the ability of the other side to change the picture dramatically.”