Netanyahu admits Israel is economically isolated, will need to become self-reliant

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admits that Israel is facing increasing economic isolation as the war in Gaza drags on and will have to become more self-reliant.

“Israel is in a sort of isolation,” he says at a conference of the Finance Ministry’s accountant general in Jerusalem, and may have to move toward a self-sufficient economy.

“We will increasingly need to adapt to an economy with autarkic characteristics [without foreign trade],” he says. “The word I most hate. I am a supporter of the free market, but we may find ourselves in a situation where our arms industries are blocked. We will need to develop arms industries here — not only research and development, but also the ability to produce what we need.”

Netanyahu says that he believes Israel can exit this isolation, but blames mass migration to Europe of Muslim immigrants for “bending the governments” in an anti-Israel direction and leading them to cancel defense deals with the Jewish state.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid slams Netanyahu after his comments.

“Netanyahu’s statement that Israel is entering isolation and needs to adapt to an isolation economy is a crazy statement. Isolation is not a decree of fate, it is the product of a wrong and failed policy of Netanyahu and his government,” says Lapid. “They are turning Israel into a third-world country and are not even trying to change the situation.”