Israel – Shut Down Nation
JVL Introduction
Shir Hever is a close student of Israel’s economy. He has described its periodic slowdowns and its growth based on a regime of technological innovation and the profits of occupation. This time it is different.
Alongside massive loss of life, the Palestinian economy in both Gaza and the West Bank has been ruthlessly destroyed. However, Israel has not escaped from the consequences of its actions and its economy too is collapsing.
Businesses are going bankrupt; tourism has almost stopped; the workforce has been redeployed to the killing fields; foreign capital is departing; and many of the most highly educated and skilled Israelis are fleeing the country. Only the armaments industry is booming. Increasing numbers of countries and companies are boycotting Israel while the slaughter continues, many more are discreetly boycotting without announcing it.
Israel has traded on its culture of innovation and its prospects for the future. Shir Hever shows how the factors essential for innovation are going missing and its future is evaporating.
MC
This article was originally published by Mondoweiss on Fri 19 Jul 2024. Read the original here.
The end of Israel’s economy
As Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza continues unabated, the Israeli economy is facing a catastrophe. The physical destruction in Israel from the war has been minimal, but one thing has been destroyed: its future.
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I don’t see economic disintegration as leading to one democratic state, more like a violent and painful civil conflict between liberal Zionism and ultra-right religious Zionism and then who knows to where, assuming Israel survives all its wars and adventures. One key to unlocking things is US and western imperialist backing. If this falters, either due to cost or liability and the political landscape suddenly changing, I don’t see things getting any better, in fact it could get a lot worse. The second key is the Palestinian resistance and how the Arab masses shake off their own dictators. Then the paradigm shifts.