With Netanyahu expanding the war to Rafah last week, hatred towards Israel is growing to unprecedented levels even among Israeli allies.
It was last week on Wednesday that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the start of a massive military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinian civilians are currently taking shelter. Even before the operation began, many countries and international bodies had demanded Israel to not attack Rafah, warning that such a move could create a new humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian lands.
Regardless of the universal demands not to carry out the attack, the Israeli military now has thousands of armed-to-the-teeth soldiers in Rafah, ad each day, hundreds of Palestinians have to evacuate the are to nowhere.
This tough stance by Netanyahu to continue the bloody war in Gaza has now backfired and many countries across the world, even those allied with Israel, are now restoring to actions against Tel Aviv.
In this regard, the Guardian noted in a report this Saturday that Israel is facing “a long-threatened diplomatic tsunami on multiple fronts” over its handling of the war in Gaza
“As the US announced it was holding up a shipment of heavy munitions to Israel over Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on going ahead with an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Ireland and Spain said they were committed to a formal recognition of Palestinian statehood. Pressure is also growing in Europe for a trade ban on Israeli settlement products,” the report noted.
Alexander de Croo, the prime minister of Belgium – which chairs the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union – has also said he is seeking like-minded allies to push for a trade ban, arguing that Israel has potentially violated human rights guarantees in the EU-Israel association agreement.
Likewise, Turkey’s President Erdoğan, who has long had a good relationship with Israel, has announced that his country would impose a complete trade ban with Israel. Reports emerging this week of a three-month reprieve for Turkish traders were also denied by Ankara. In South America, Israel has also seen a rash of countries cut diplomatic ties or downgrade contacts, with Colombia becoming the second South American country after Bolivia to cut ties.
In international bodies, Israel has no better situation. In the United Nations, not even a week goes by without the body rebuking Tel Aviv for warmongering in Gaza. Israel is also under investigation at the International Criminal Court, which is reportedly considering issuing warrants for senior Israeli officials, and at the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top court, which is investigating a complaint of genocide and incitement to genocide brought by South Africa against Israel.
Israel’s economy can’t take any further isolation!
According to a report by Bloomberg, the damage caused to the Israeli economy due to the long war in Gaza and the following isolation of Israel, has reached about 60 billion shekels (16 billion dollars), which is a very alarming figure.
Latest Data released by Israel’s Finance Ministry in early May confirmed the report, asserting that the current fiscal deficit for the 12 months to April 2024 rose to about seven percent of Israel’s gross domestic product, well above the Israeli government’s estimates.
In addition, government spending has also increased by approximately 36% in the first four months of the year compared to the same period last year. Defense spending accounts for a third of Israel’s government expenditures, while government revenues have fallen by more than 2.2 percent due to damage from the Gaza war.
Noting that Israel is headed for its largest budget deficit this century, the report also added that Israel’s central bank had previously estimated the total cost of the war in the period 2023-2025 at about $64.4 billion, but now that figure is more than 80 billion dollars.
