Haaretz
Written by: Matti Tucker
16/3/2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to take over the war strongly and, to the new staff, they began to make statements on a basic objective of “destroying Hamas”. But if the citizens of Israel try to follow the cost of war, they will find it difficult to do so. The reason is that the public accountant of the Ministry of Finance ceased to constantly publish the cost of war.
Until the end of 2024, the public accountant was published the cost of war in detail each month. He did so in state budget performance reports. These are the reports that explain government revenues and expenses every month and show the deficit in government activities, the main data that is of great importance.
According to the recent report of the public accountant, until the end of 2024, the cost of war amounted to 124.7 billion shekels, including around 100 billion shekels in 2024. Another cost of war concerns the compensation fund, from which payments are transferred direct and indirect damage to citizens and commercial interests. From the start of the war until the end of 2024, 18.5 billion shekels have been paid by the remuneration fund, so that the total cost of the war, according to the public accountant, has been around 150 billion shekels.
The detailed measures offered by the public accountant have enabled the distinction between the cost of the security war and the civil cost. These figures were particularly important because they made it possible to follow the increase in government expenses which come from the war and, consequently, discussing the strong even increase in expenses which are not linked to war-that is to say that the government has increased its expenses and did not increase efficiency as expected during the war period.
But since the performance report in January 2025, in the general accountant service, they have ceased to publish the cost of the updated war, and it is no longer possible to understand public spending if we deduce war expenses. This deficiency in information weighs the capacity to analyze the performance of the state budget. This situation becomes more dangerous when you hear statements on all sides regarding the resumption of war and fiercely. If the government chooses to work in this way, it is not possible to know in real time the cost of the stages which will be implemented.
In the public accounting department, they say that in response to this that “with the continuation of the war, the importance of a distinct measure of the cost of war in the security apparatus has decreased, because the more it passes, the most difficult cost to distinguish the cost of direct war, increased force, construction force and the department.
There may be difficulties in the general accountant service, which is a difficulty, with a high perspective, war expenses. But in the hands of the security device, there is detailed information on war expenses, the public accountant can also use it. Within the Ministry of the Economy of the Chief of Cabinet, they publish the cost of war reports every day. These reports take into account the cost of reserve days, the use of ammunition and objection systems, the operation of various systems and the air force.
Even in February, they are at the Ministry of the Economic Department of the Chief of Cabinet, who estimated war expenses at 154 billion shekels, in addition to regular security expenditure. This amount represents the highest 20% of the estimates of the general accounting service (if the compensation fund is not taken into account, which is not included in the accounts of the security device). In other words, even when the public accountant published war expenses were not identical to the security of the security apparatus.
The main reason for incompatibility lies, because it appears in the fact that they are in the public accounting department, they calculate war expenses on the basis of the cash implementation reports. In other words, the estimate concerns the actual spending of the general state budget. Until the date of publication of performance reports. On the other hand, paid expenses are generally not included in the account, even if they are respected during the report period. For example, although the reserve days are estimated in the safety device according to the date on which the general accounting service brings together the expenses of the reserve days when they are already paid.
In addition to the security device, they appreciate war expenses according to the cost of using equipment and ammunition in the reserve, based on the estimation of its economic value. On the other hand, in the service of general accountants, they only appreciate financial expenses.
In any event, the fact that the citizens of Israel have no economic knowledge of the expenses of the current war, which would affect the capacity to carry out a public debate and to know the cost of war, will also affect the ability to follow the expenses of government ministries when combat expenses are deducted.
