One Fifth of Israel’s Budget Spent on Military

Expenses Dwarf Those of Other Industrialized Nations

A new report on Israeli government expenditures shows the nation spending a hugely disproportionate amount on their military with roughly one fifth of the overall national budget going straight into military spending.

The report also revealed that more than 50 percent of that military spending is directly into salaries. The levels have been growing at a rapid pace in past years, far faster than Israel’s economy is growing, and of course that growth is being hindered with a large portion of money disappearing into the black hole that is military spending.

This dwarfs the percentage other industrialized nations spend on their militaries. Germany spends 3.6 percent, Britain 5.8 percent. Even nations seen to have huge militaries, like Egypt, only spend 6.3%.

This is only a portion of the overall cost of Israel’s military as well, as in addition to their own government’s outlays, the Israeli military gets billions annually from the United States, and smaller amounts from Germany and various other nations.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.