Israel’s economic sectors continue to struggle

JERUSALEM (AA) – Two months after Israel started its war on Gaza, many sectors in the country have failed to rebound from its impacts despite its conservative hardline government’s efforts to prop up the economy.

Most sectors in Israel’s economy experienced a downturn after October 7, when Tel Aviv responded to an attack by the resistance group Hamas with a relentless campaign of indiscriminate strikes and ground attacks on densely populated Palestinian residential areas.

– Tourism

Tourism in Israel witnessed a staggering 76% decline in October due to the ongoing war which triggered a wave of flight cancellations to and from Tel Aviv.

According to the Israeli Bureau of Statistics, only around 89,700 tourists visited Israel in October, with the majority arriving before the war began.

This represents a year-on-year drop of over 370,000 foreign tourists, underscoring the severe impact that the sector suffered due to the ongoing events.

November’s tourism data, which is not yet available, is expected to reflect a substantial decline from October.

– Labor Market

So far, the Israeli market has suffered a loss of about 950,000 jobs. Hundreds of thousands of others, meanwhile, face challenges getting to workplaces located near the Gaza Strip or in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, where sporadic fighting has also taken place.

The conflict has resulted in over 178,000 Palestinian workers being unable to commute to their Israeli workplaces or settlements. Also, about 350,000 Israeli employees have joined the army, while approximately 46,000 were laid off, according to data from the Israeli Labor Ministry.

Overall, an estimated 760,000, roughly 18% of the workforce, were unable to work due to serving as reserve soldiers, residing near conflict areas, or staying home with children.

– Real Estate

Within Israel, over 90,000 Palestinian workers are employed in the real estate sector out of a total of 178,000. None have returned to work since the war began.

Meanwhile, Palestinian labor has partially returned in other sectors like agriculture and food industries, amid scarcity of this type of goods in Israeli markets.

The real estate industry showed a decline of over 8% on the Israeli Stock Exchange by the end of last month compared to pre-war levels.

Israel resumed its military offensive with its characteristic brute force on the Palestinian territory on December 1 after the end of a weeklong suspension.

At least 16,248 Palestinians have been killed and more than 43,616 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since October 7.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.