Israel’s economy minister said on Tuesday trade relations with Arab countries had not been impacted by the Gaza war and that the country was able to undertake the financial cost of the conflict.
“There is no change at all” in trade relations, Nir Barkat informed reporters at the sidelines of the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial meeting in the United Arab Emirates.
Barkat said Israel had suffered between $42-55 billion added to the country’s national debt due to economic losses in the war.
Israel’s cabinet approved an additional $15 billion to handle the cost of the war. The mobilization of reservists and the displacement of communities at the Gaza and Lebanon borders have also affected the economy.
Arab countries that have normalized relations with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates, have had to juggle diplomacy with a strongly pro-Palestinian public opinion.
Barkat noted the Gaza war could aid Israel’s sales of military technology.
“Especially after this war we are probably going to be leading many, many initiatives… of how next-generation warfare is going to look like,” Barkat said.
“Anybody that thinks they are threatened by regimes of Iran then they would have to tap us to better understand what we have learnt and what the solutions and security challenges are,” he added.
