In video: Commander of Division 162 Lt. Col. Itzik Cohen and his fighters in the heart of Gaza City 05.02.24/dec
"We do not ignore the risks of an escalation of the fighting, but at this time we give excess weight to theoretical scenarios whose occurrence is not certain," said Accountant General Yaheli Rotenberg today at a press briefing on the downgrading of Israel's credit rating.
Rotenberg, who tried in vain to convince Moody's not to lower the rating, adds that "currently the intensity of the war in Gaza is decreasing, the number of daily casualties is decreasing and so is the rocket fire into the State of Israel. As the war in Gaza continues, the risk decreases. The rationale for continuing the activities of the Houthis Yam and Hezbollah is reduced. The risk remains significant, their determination may be a hypothesis. Moody's decision combines geopolitical measures that we think have been given excessive weight."
Rotenberg.
"Demody's did not lower the rating and did not change the forecast in the second intifada nor in the second Lebanon war, in operation Tzuk Eitan and in the corona crisis"/Official website, Gilad Artzi
Rotenberg claims that Moody's did not give sufficient weight to arguments that show the country's economic strength.
According to him, "Israel has proven that it can withstand crises. In the second intifada, growth increased significantly. Moody's did not lower the rating and did not change the forecast in the second intifada, nor in the second Lebanon war, in Operation Protective Edge, and in the corona crisis.
"Moody's also writes that the state's institutions remain effective during the fighting.
It is not seen that there was a deterioration in the situation, the stock market remained stable throughout the period, the issuances continued as usual.
The Knesset approved an updated budget for 2023. A budget for 2024 will soon be approved. The exchange rate jumped but returned to approximately pre-war levels."
Regarding the budget that includes coalition funds and no cuts to meetings, Rotenberg said that "one can always criticize the budget, such and such cuts.
But delaying the state budget will lead to a cut of tens of billions of shekels." Regarding Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's statements in response to the report, he said that "I do not give grades to the Finance Minister, he does not consult with me beforehand about the way he expressed himself."
More on the same topic:
Moody's
credit rating
Credit Rating
War of Iron Swords
Gaza war
Hezbollah
the accountant general
Yali Rotenberg
Ministry of Finance