AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime spent about 100 billion shekels ($28 billion) on military conflicts in 2024, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, a figure that has sharply pushed up regime borrowing and its debt burden.
The ratio of public debt to gross domestic product rose to 69.0% at the end of last year, from 61.3% in 2023.
The ratio has risen 9 percentage points over the past two years, largely due to the Zionist regime’s onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza and in Lebanon. Ceasefire deals have been made in recent weeks to end the fighting.
Entering the Gaza war in 2023, the occupying regime’s low debt-to-GDP ratio provided flexibility, allowing funding to support displaced populations, businesses and reservists, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said.
“The debt-to-GDP ratio in 2024 reflects the significant response to war needs, both on the security and civilian fronts,” Accountant General Yali Rothenberg said.
Total debt rose to 1.33 trillion shekels last year from 1.13 trillion in 2023. The regime’s spending in 2024 was 621 billion shekels, with 100 billion of that on the wars.
During 2024, the regime raised 278 billion shekels - 79% through bond market. Another 19% was raised in global bond issues and the rest in domestic non-tradable debt.
Last March, the Zionist regime raised a record $8 billion in an international offering of 10 and 30-year bonds.
Since the start of the Gaza war, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has raised 360 billion shekels - 272 billion of which locally and 83 billion globally.
It raised 160 billion shekels in 2023 and 63 billion in 2022.
Israel’s budget deficit reached 6.9% in 2024, its highest level since 11.6% in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. All three agencies lowered the Zionist regime’s credit rating in 2024.