Israeli DM: Gaza War Cost Over $9 Billion

Gaza Poll: Hamas More Popular After War

There has been wide speculation about the overall cost of Israel’s nearly two-month long war on the Gaza Strip. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon stepped in today to say the direct military cost of the war was $9 billion.

Ya’alon insisted the war would’ve been worth it at three times the price, citing the huge damage done to Hamas. A new poll today showed Hamas is actually more popular in the strip after the war.

$9 billion is a huge chunk of Israel’s annual $14 billion military budget, and over two years worth of US military subsidies. That’s only the direct military costs, a fraction of the overall cost to the Israeli economy, as the war hugely hurt the nation’s important tourism industry.

The Israeli government has struggled to sell the war as a great military victory, but apart from a large civilian death toll there was very little measurable consequence to the war at all, and with Israel already facing a budget crunch over military spending, it wasn’t a great time to dump money on a pointless war.

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.