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LeMonde
18 hours ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
Despite destruction and death, Israelis widely support war against Iran
Shoshi Arbuz received the alert on her phone just minutes before the explosion. Along with her four children, her husband and their dog, they had just enough time to get down to the shelter beneath their small four-story building – a room just a few square meters in the basement, furnished with plastic chairs and a reinforced door. When the Iranian missile struck less than 100 meters away just after 7 am on Thursday morning in Holon, a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, the ground shook in the basement-turned-shelter. "Everything went black, the shelter filled with dust," said the 40-year-old municipal employee. The building across the street, which took a direct hit, was partially destroyed. About 30 people were rescued from it, including two who were critically injured, according to the city's chief fire officer. The blast destroyed the inside of the family apartment, as well as dozens of others around the impact site. In her partially-destroyed living room, Arbuz repeated that she didn't "want war," but nevertheless firmly supported the Netanyahu government's decision to launch a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, because of the nuclear threat. "Iran wants to destroy us. I understand that if we hadn't attacked, they would have," she explained, echoing the public's deep-seated fears about the dangers posed by the Iranian regime. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies regarding the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack have caused months of anger and incomprehension, the bombing of targets in Iran has, at least for now, been met with wide approval: More than 80% of Jewish Israelis support the strikes, according to a recent poll conducted for the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI).
Mint
a day ago
- Business
- Mint
Israel's war on Iran is costing hundreds of millions of dollars a day
Israel faces steep costs to repair hundreds of buildings damaged in Iranian missile strikes, including in Tel Aviv. Israel's conflict with Iran is costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars a day, according to early estimates, a price tag that could constrain Israel's ability to conduct a lengthy war. The biggest single cost are the interceptors needed to blow up incoming Iranian missiles, which alone can amount to between tens of millions to $200 million a day, experts say. Ammunition and aircraft also add to the price tag of the war, as does the unprecedented damage to buildings. Some estimates so far say that rebuilding or repairing damage could cost Israel at least $400 million. The mounting costs add up to pressure on Israel to wrap up the war quickly. Israeli officials have said the new offensive could last for two weeks, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown no indication of stopping before Israel achieves all of its goals, which include the elimination of Iran's nuclear program and its ballistic-missile production and arsenal. But the war is expensive. 'The main factor which will really determine the cost of the war will be the duration," said Karnit Flug, a former governor of the Bank of Israel and now a senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based think tank Israel Democracy Institute. Flug said she thought Israel's economy could sustain a short campaign. 'If it is a week it is one thing," she said. 'If it is two weeks or a month it is a very different story." An interceptor responds to an incoming missile this week in the skies above Tel Aviv. Over the last few days, Iran has launched more than 400 missiles at Israel, according to the Israeli government, which require sophisticated air-defense systems to stop. More missiles usually means more interceptors. The David's Sling system, developed jointly by Israel and the U.S., can shoot down short-to-long range missiles, drones and aircraft. It costs around $700,000 each time it is activated, assuming it uses two interceptors, normally the minimum launched, according to Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies. Arrow 3, another system being used, shields against long-range ballistic missiles that leave the earth's atmosphere, at a cost of around $4 million per interception, Kalisky said. An older version of the Arrow, known as Arrow 2, costs around $3 million per interceptor. Other military expenditures include the cost of keeping dozens of warplanes, such as F-35 jets, in the air for hours at a time some 1,000 miles away from Israeli territory. Each costs around $10,000 per hour of flight time, according to Kalisky. The cost of refueling jets, and ammunition including bombs such as JDAMs and MK84s, also must be factored in. 'Per day it is much more expensive than the war in Gaza or with Hezbollah. And it all comes from the ammunition. That's the big expense," said Zvi Eckstein, who heads the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Reichman University in Israel, referring to both defensive and offensive munitions. According to an estimate by the institute, a war with Iran that lasts one month will amount to around $12 billion. The arrivals hall at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv was largely empty on June 13 after Israel closed its airspace to takeoffs and landings. Israeli military spending has gone up since the war began yet economists don't foresee a recession at this point, Eckstein said. Much of Israel's economy has shut down in recent days as a result of the Iranian strikes. Only workers in essential industries were called to work, and many businesses such as restaurants were closed. The country's main international airport was closed for several days and has now opened for limited flights back to Israel for those stuck abroad. On June 16, S&P released a risk assessment for the Israel-Iran escalation but didn't change its credit outlook. Israeli markets rose to record highs Wednesday, continuing to outperform U.S. benchmarks despite the conflict with Iran, betting that the war will end in Israel's favor. Some economists say that the markets appear to think that Israel's economy will prove resilient as it has demonstrated over the past 20 months of war in Gaza. Still, the damage inflicted by Iranian missile attacks will add up. Engineers say that the destruction caused by the large ballistic missiles is unlike anything they have seen in recent decades of war in Israel. Hundreds of buildings have been destroyed or heavily damaged, and they will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild or repair, said Eyal Shalev, a structural engineer who has been called to assess the damage to civilian infrastructure. Shalev estimated it would cost at least tens of millions of dollars to repair a single newly-built skyscraper in central Tel Aviv, which was affected by the strikes. More than 5,000 people have been evacuated from their homes because of missile damage, and some are being housed in hotels paid for by the state, according to Israel's National Public Diplomacy Directorate. Targeting of critical infrastructure has been a top concern in Israel. Two strikes on Israel's largest oil refinery in northern Israel led to its shutdown and killed three of the refinery's employees. Some employees who work in sensitive or critical infrastructure industries have been told in recent days not to come to work, according to Dror Litvak, CEO of ManpowerGroup Israel, which supplies over 12,000 employees in Israel to different sectors. On Wednesday, Israel's home front command said it would partially lift a ban on gatherings—allowing up to 30 people in total to meet—and that workplaces in much of the country could reopen as long as there is a nearby shelter. But with schools still closed, many parents are struggling to juggle working from home and entertaining their children amid yet another military campaign. Ariel Markose, 38 years old, a chief strategy officer for an Israeli nonprofit, now holds her morning work calls from a park in Jerusalem where she spends several hours with her four young children. She heads home at around 4 p.m. and continues to work while her husband takes over with the children. 'There are families that are completely collapsing under this," she said. Iranian missiles have hit critical Israeli infrastructure, and some homes have been damaged, as in Ramat Gan. Write to Anat Peled at
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Most Israelis doubt Gaza ops. will return hostages or defeat Hamas
According to the survey, only 37% of Israelis believe the operation will bring the hostages home, while only 38.5% think Hamas will be defeated in Gaza. As the IDF progresses in the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Gideon's Chariots, a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), published on Friday, shows that most Israelis are skeptical the campaign will achieve its two main objectives: Bringing home the hostages and defeating Hamas. According to the May 2025 Israeli Voice Index, conducted by the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, only 37% of Israelis believe the operation will succeed in bringing the hostages back, and just 38.5% think it will defeat Hamas and end its rule in Gaza. Arab Israelis are even more skeptical: only 27.5% believe the hostages will return, compared with 39% of Jewish Israelis; and 31% believe the operation will defeat Hamas, compared with 40% of Jewish Israelis. Voter affiliation significantly influences these views. Among supporters of parties in the current coalition, 65% of Religious Zionist Party voters believe the fighting will bringthe hostages home, and 64% believe it will defeat Hamas. By contrast, among voters for the opposition Labor Party — now called The Democrats, only 7% believe either goal will be achieved. Even among voters for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, there is significant doubt: only 27% believe the hostages will return, and 31% believe the operation will defeat Hamas. The survey also asked about US President Donald Trump's commitment to Israel's security. When asked, 'To what extent do you think Israel's security is one of President Trump's central considerations?' the public was divided: 47% believe that Israel's security is a central consideration to a fairly large or very large extent, while 46% say it is a central consideration only to a fairly small or very small extent. This marks a notable shift from immediately before and after Trump's election, when a larger proportion of Israelis believed that Israel's security would be a guiding light for his policy decisions. For example, in November 2024, 63% of respondents held that view. The survey also revealed mixed opinions on humanitarian aid to Gaza. When asked whether Israel should increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, 54% said it should not, while 38% said it should. Significant differences emerged between Jewish and Arab respondents: more than three-quarters of Arab Israelis believe aid should be increased, while less than a third of Jewish Israelis agree. Among Jewish Israelis, support for increased aid is highest on the Left (75%), compared with 42% in the Center and just 17% on the Right. About half of the respondents said responsibility for transferring and distributing humanitarian aid should lie with an international force. Approximately a quarter believe the responsibility should fall to the IDF or another Israeli agency. Smaller percentages favor the Palestinian Authority (9%) or private companies (8%). Similar patterns were found among both Jewish and Arab samples, though Jewish respondents were more likely to support Israeli or international responsibility, while Arab respondents more often favored giving this task to the Palestinian Authority or private companies. The survey also asked about the recent wave of flight cancellations to Israel by foreign airlines. Approximately 60% of both Jewish and Arab respondents believe the cancellations are due to the objective security situation, while just over a quarter attribute them to disagreement with Israel's conduct in Gaza. Among Jewish respondents, political orientation again played a role: a majority in all camps attributed the cancellations to the security situation, with the highest proportion on the Left (69%), compared with 62% in the Center and 58% on the Right. The May 2025 Israeli Voice Index was prepared by the Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research at the Israel Democracy Institute. The survey was conducted via the internet and by telephone between May 26 and 29, 2025, with 601 Hebrew-speaking and 150 Arabic-speaking adults, constituting a nationally representative sample of the Israeli adult population aged 18 and over. The maximum sampling error was ±3.58% at a 95% confidence level. Fieldwork was carried out by Shiluv I2R.
Zawya
28-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Israeli credit rating unlikely to get upgrade during Gaza war, S&P official says
JERUSALEM: Israel's credit rating is unlikely to be upgraded until the war in Gaza ends, since the conflict weighs on the Israeli economy and its fiscal position, S&P Global Ratings Director Maxim Rybnikov said on Tuesday. Any widening of the conflict to Iran would prompt a ratings downgrade, but that is not S&P's baseline scenario, Rybnikov said. S&P earlier this month affirmed Israel's long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings at "A/A-1" and maintained a "negative" outlook. "For the outlook side, it's all about security risks and how this is going to unfold," Rybnikov told the Israel Democracy Institute's annual economic conference. "The key downside triggers are, first of all, military conflicts hampering some of Israel's characteristics, such as economic growth, fiscal position and balance of payments more than we currently anticipate." Even in the medium term, higher defence spending is expected to put pressure on Israel's fiscal position, with projections of a budget deficit of 5% in 2027 and 4.2% in 2028, Rybnikov said. He said the war that began in October 2023 had already lasted longer than initially anticipated. "We don't know ... the way forward and how the war is going to end, and for us, it certainly presents risks, especially in a scenario where there's a more significant escalation," he said. Yet, Israel's outlook could move back to "stable" in the event of a reduced likelihood of military escalation and an easing in broader security risks. "We still expect some stabilisation to happen over the medium term. What forms and how quickly it will take is still uncertain," Rybnikov said. Globally, he said there has been a "seismic shift" in U.S. trade policies and S&P assumes 25% tariffs on items such as water, steel, semiconductors and aluminum in addition to a 10% across the board tariff. But he does not expect a U.S. recession from a slowdown in growth in the U.S. and China.
Reuters
27-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Israeli credit rating unlikely to get upgrade during Gaza war, S&P official says
JERUSALEM, May 27 (Reuters) - Israel's credit rating is unlikely to be upgraded until the war in Gaza ends, since the conflict weighs on the Israeli economy and its fiscal position, S&P Global Ratings Director Maxim Rybnikov said on Tuesday. Any widening of the conflict to Iran would prompt a ratings downgrade, but that is not S&P's baseline scenario, Rybnikov said. S&P earlier this month affirmed Israel's long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings at "A/A-1" and maintained a "negative" outlook. "For the outlook side, it's all about security risks and how this is going to unfold," Rybnikov told the Israel Democracy Institute's annual economic conference. "The key downside triggers are, first of all, military conflicts hampering some of Israel's characteristics, such as economic growth, fiscal position and balance of payments more than we currently anticipate." Even in the medium term, higher defence spending is expected to put pressure on Israel's fiscal position, with projections of a budget deficit of 5% in 2027 and 4.2% in 2028, Rybnikov said. He said the war that began in October 2023 had already lasted longer than initially anticipated. "We don't know ... the way forward and how the war is going to end, and for us, it certainly presents risks, especially in a scenario where there's a more significant escalation," he said. Yet, Israel's outlook could move back to "stable" in the event of a reduced likelihood of military escalation and an easing in broader security risks. "We still expect some stabilisation to happen over the medium term. What forms and how quickly it will take is still uncertain," Rybnikov said. Globally, he said there has been a "seismic shift" in U.S. trade policies and S&P assumes 25% tariffs on items such as water, steel, semiconductors and aluminum in addition to a 10% across the board tariff. But he does not expect a U.S. recession from a slowdown in growth in the U.S. and China. "The numbers ... are very uncertain and there (are) significant downside risks," Rybnikov said.
