War with Iran could cost Israeli economy $42 billion

A war between Israel and Iran could cost the Israeli economy 167 billion shekels, or nearly $42 billion, Channel 10 reported on Sunday citing estimates by Business Data Israel, Ltd., a business information group.

According to the projections, lost work would cost the state NIS 39 billion or nearly $10 billion. The report did not clarify whether this took into account reserve soldiers who are called to duty and must leave their jobs, people not working due to continuous missile assault on Israeli population centers, or both.

Rearmament and reequipping the military and reconstructing buildings would cost the state an additional estimated NIS 8 billion, or $2 billion. The report did not mention what the possible cost of replacing military hardware, including aircraft, tanks, and helicopters, or how much the cost of intercepting incoming missiles could be.

A ten percent drop in commerce over five years is predicted to result from a war with Iran, for a projected loss of NIS 120 billion, or about $30 billion. The report mentioned that the financial figures did not take into account the far-reaching impact of an oil price crisis, an international recession or budget cuts to fund the war.

Last week, the outgoing minister for the home front, Matan Vilnai, said an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program could trigger a month-long war on many fronts, with 500 fatalities.

“It could be that there will be fewer deaths, but it could be there will be more. That is the scenario we are preparing for according to the best experts,” Vilnai told Maariv. “The assessments are for a war that will last 30 days on a number of fronts.”