Key points
- The Israeli Parliament has approved a massive increase in the defense budget.
- The budget will increase by several billion dollars.
- Bethsabée Salem, a correspondent in Israel, discusses the reasons for this significant increase on LCI.
A significant increase. The Israeli Parliament approved, on Monday, March 30, a massive increase in the defense budget, around 8 to 9 billion dollars, a month after the start of the conflict in the Middle East. Israel’s state expenses in this area have been rising sharply in recent years.
“This is a 20% increase compared to last year,” points out Bethsabée Salem, correspondent in Israel, on LCI. In this area, France has a slightly higher budget than Israel’s, even though it has a much larger population. Yet, “an Israeli funds six times more of the defense budget than a French person. It’s an enormous economic pressure,” the journalist highlighted on Monday.
The Israeli state’s involvement in several conflicts is the cause of this situation. Air defense and interception systems represent high expenses for Israel. “When ballistic missiles are intercepted, it costs between 1 and 3 million dollars each time. This needs to be multiplied by all the missiles that are fired,” Bethsabée Salem added. The strong mobilization of reservists also has a high cost.
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For Israel, the economic cost of wars is significant. “The pressure is very heavy. Just before the war, the Israeli economy had just stabilized,” the correspondent concluded, reporting from Tel Aviv.
