On video: The 'Arrow' interceptor successfully intercepted a missile launched at Israel in the Red Sea area 02.22.24/Ministry of Defense
We have to lead a long school day.
A blessing for the parents, a profit for the children and an opportunity to improve the income of the teachers/ShutterStock, shutterstock
In the early afternoon, until sunset these days, I am very careful when I cross a crosswalk in the community where I live.
Mothers who have just returned from their workplace rush to collect the children from the "frames", from toddlers to older children - from nurseries, kindergartens and elementary schools in the lower grades.
In an attempt to get everything done, they overtake vehicles that have stopped at a crosswalk according to the requirements of the law and endanger pedestrians by overtaking them, the main thing is to have time to both help support the family and serve the children.
The men are often still at work during these hours of picking up the children, due to an informed financial decision by the family unit which knows that women's standardized hourly wages are still 15% lower than men's, as is the general trend all over the world.
The Israeli economy retreated at a tremendous rate that had not been seen in many years, probably since the Yom Kippur War and the lost decade that followed, when it completely collapsed accompanied by crazy inflation that disrupted all economic systems.
The continuation of the war weighs on the economy and it is time to make fundamental changes in the whole of the behavior of the economy and society in order to grow the economy again.
This
requires a sharp increase in economic efficiency and labor productivity, which must overcome the blessed fertility of women in Israel, among ultra-Orthodox women 3.8 children per woman, among Muslim Arabs 2.9 children per woman, non-Orthodox Jews 2.5 children, Druze women 1.9 children and Christians 1.6 children per woman, according to the CBS The efficiency in the balance between work and the family unit while making a tremendous contribution to the economy will
only
be if we go to what is customary among the nations of the world - a long school day from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon, five days a week. Then we will give women an opportunity to develop a career and increase the income of the family unit and optimize the The activity in all sectors of the economy, no more half and partial jobs that cost and the time to get to and from the workplace is a kind of insane burdensome overhead, neither worthwhile nor efficient.
Dr. Ahmed Khalihal of the CBS presented data this week according to which the Arab woman wants to get out of the cycle of poverty and therefore she is already going out into the open the public and digital to absorb other opinions and naturally to raise the standard of living of the family unit, including entertainment and restaurants, she goes out to work more. The "Iron Swords" war is the time to make a drastic change in the hours of the education system and on this occasion to raise the income of female teachers and the income of new teachers in the system.
Is the government listening to this?
A slowdown in economic activity and a sharp increase in the deficit following the injection of funds into affected sectors/ShutterStock
Increase in the deficit
Hamas has dared to massacre the residents of Israel, killed and still kills soldiers, kills Jews and Bedouins, hurt, wounded and cracked the souls of the Jews who thought that the Land of Israel was their refuge after the Holocaust and the persecutions in the Arab countries and caused tremendous damage to the Israeli economy that will take years to restore its wounds with tremendous efforts that we will have to make.
In 2023, there was an unbearably huge increase in the government's deficit to NIS 92.9 billion, an amount equal to 5% of the GDP after a surplus of NIS 7.9 billion in 2022, which was 0.4% of the GDP, according to the first estimates of the CBS published this week. This account of The government is the summary of the balance sheet in the government's current account, including income and expenses related to investment in non-financial physical assets.
The jump in the deficit is due to a tremendous increase in the transfers of the Israeli government to businesses that were affected by the hostilities and the war of Hamas in Gaza mainly and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border. At the same time, the state's income from the sale of land, privatization, have dropped sharply due to the deepening crisis in the real estate industry with no working hands for the industry.
On the other hand, there were increases in the government's income from capital received from abroad, including current transfers, among others to non-profit institutions or national institutions, in total capital income and current income from abroad amounted to 23.3 billion shekels last year after 20.2 billion shekels in 2022 and NIS 16.1 billion in 2021.
Israel serves as a land of refuge for the Jews of the world, for the Ukrainians of today, for the Ethiopians until now, for the expatriates of the USSR of yesterday, and for the Argentines in the past. Therefore, it would be justified for the government to conduct a campaign to raise capital for the state treasury from world Jewry, to further increase the The capital income and the current income of the State of Israel, a kind of insurance premium that the Jews of the world must raise.
religious.
If the incentives for not working decrease, the desire to acquire a profession will increase/ShutterStock
to encourage training for the ultra-Orthodox
The state's revenue from real estate taxation is collapsing, it must be strengthened in order to improve its financial situation. Therefore, the industry that needs to be addressed is the construction industry, which has collapsed as mentioned above. There are simply no workers because of the restrictions that the state has imposed on Palestinians, which is their specialty.
According to data presented by the researcher Dr. Hagay Ateks From the Bank of Israel, but not on behalf of the Bank of Israel, the employment of Palestinians from Judea and Samaria decreased from 124,000 before the war to 28,000, when now, with no permits, the informal employment of the Palestinians is increasing at the expense of the formal work that has disappeared.
In my opinion, the solution to the issue will be a renewed authorization for Palestinians from Judea and Samaria to work in Israel, with stricter checks.
In the end, it is not justified to cut off over 100,000 Palestinian workers from their source of livelihood and burden the poor who may be diverted to terrorism.
At the same time, ultra-Orthodox must be encouraged to enter the construction industry after appropriate professional training in the field.
It sounds imaginary, you have to try, there really is no choice.
If the incentives for not working are reduced, the desire to acquire a profession, also physical, will increase.
Of course, more workers with construction skills should be brought in from Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.
If this is not done, industries will fall due to the negative impact of the slowdown in residential construction on adjacent industries living in the shadow of the construction industry - cement, flooring, iron rolling, elevators to architecture and mortgage banks.
The residential real estate industry was in crisis even before the war, therefore the number of new apartments remaining for sale at the end of 2023 reached a perhaps all-time high, 67,760, which are enough for 27.5 months of sales according to the current rate of sales, compared to 44,591 apartments in January 2022 which were enough for 10.2 months Sale.
The Israelis are beginning to break away from residences on the northern border and the southern border, and are fleeing to the center. Some of the evacuees will not return to live in Kiryat Shmona or in settlements exposed to acts of hostility to the point of killing on the Lebanese border and not in settlements "surrounding Gaza". The fear is that from the hotels to which the Israeli refugees were evacuated inside their country, they will move evacuees to the center of the country. 30% of the new apartments remaining for sale are in Tel Aviv, 26% in the Central District and Jerusalem with 5,470 apartments. Ashkelon and Ashdod together have another 5,097 apartments.
Israel's GDP collapsed in the last quarter of 2023 at an annual rate of 19.4% after an increase at an annual rate of 1.8 % in the third quarter of 2023 and compared to an increase at an annual rate of 6.4% in the last quarter of 2022. In total, the GDP increased in the entire year of 2023 at a rate of only 2% after 6.5% in 2022, the gross GDP per capita decreased in 2023 by 0.1% after an increase of 4.4% in 2022. These numbers do not tell the tragedy of the Israeli economy after the massacre in Israel.
Public spending increased in the last quarter of 2023 at an annual rate of 88% after an annual increase of 8% in the third quarter of 2023 and compared to a decrease of 1% in the last quarter of 2022. That is, the fall of the GDP at a higher rate was avoided due to the government's expenses, which are mainly expenses to finance the war and its absorption, Expenses that are basically intended for war, expenses that are not productive and do not constitute an indication of future growth as in profitable investments in the business sector.
The GDP of the business sector, which is currently relevant for the future of the Israeli economy, decreased in the last quarter of 2023, when the massive reserve mobilization took place, at an annual rate of 32% after an increase of 1.5% in the third quarter of 2023 and 7.4% in the last quarter of 2022. The GDP of the sector Business increased in the entire year 2023 by only 1.2% after an increase of 7.7% in 2022 and 11.4% in 2021. The future of the Israeli economy depends on today's investments that will grow tomorrow's yield, such as in agriculture, sowing, growing, nurturing and harvesting.
Investments in the sectors of the economy fell in the last quarter of 2023 at a crazy annual rate of 43%, when the collapse in investments for residential construction reached 95% annually.
There was also a fall in investments in all assets in the economy, fixed assets, at an annual rate of 68%.
The result is that throughout the year 2023 investment in the sectors of the economy increased by only 0.7%, in residential construction there was a decrease of 8% and in fixed assets 1.9%.
High tech.
We must return the locomotive of the economy to the tracks of growth/ShutterStock
Damage to technology
The restoration of the Israeli economy should be concentrated on the main branches of the economy that pull it forward.
The first industry on the rise is the high technology sector which has become dependent on the trend of the reserve service of those involved in the field.
Amazingly, the industrial production of high technology rose in the three months September-November 2023 at an annual rate of 7.2% after an increase of 2.8% in the three months June-August.
With the prolongation of the fighting and more recruits from the high-tech sector, it is clear that there will be damage to this important industry.
The export of high technology industries, which constitutes 36% of all industrial exports, decreased according to the trend data in the three months from November 2023 to January 2024 at an annual rate of 14%, following the decrease at an annual rate of about 17% that occurred in the three months until October last year.
In the export of high-tech services, please note that a service is not an industrial product and has long-term characteristics between the buyer and the seller, the export was stable from August to November at a level of approximately 5.6 billion dollars per month, an 11% increase compared to the corresponding period in 2022, but in fact the increase since August stopped
In order to ensure continued growth, we must cut budgets that are not essential at the moment, including coalition funds, and transfer the money to the Innovation Authority to encourage start-ups that have withered in the past year and to fill the gap from the decrease in foreign investment in high-tech initiatives in Israel that were affected by the global crisis in the field, the rupture due to the anti-government protests And now the war in Gaza.
The data at the moment are not encouraging: in 2023, investments in the technology, ICT, technology, information and communication industries will decrease by 10%.
Dalton Industrial Park, Upper Galilee.
The state should do everything to prevent industrialists from fleeing the book areas/Aerial photo: National Photographic/Evan Zur Communications
Dispersal of industry
Not only are the residents fleeing from the terror of Israel's longest war since the establishment of the state, also the traditional industry, which is mainly located in the areas of the book due to the cost of the workers and state benefits, will begin to flee due to the risk of both the activity and the workers.
Shutdown of the traditional industry because of Hezbollah or Hamas is difficult to compensate for the owners or the workers.
Not only that, this shutdown leads to a partial paralysis of production, trade and supplies to the residents of Israel in times of peace and in times of emergency, and sometimes to exports as well.
In any case, the state must give its opinion on the need to disperse the industries, including the traditional ones, in every field of production, to prevent concentration in a given geographical area.
Moving to an economy threatened by constant war, incentives for the dispersion of industry throughout the country with a mix that prevents dependence on the Safar region or conflict, the order of the hour.
The revenue of traditional industry in the three months August-November 2023 decreased at an annual rate of 9% after a decrease of 11% in the previous three months, the revenue from exports decreased at an annual rate of 7% after a decrease at an annual rate of 5%.
Working hours in the traditional industry decreased by an annual rate of 9% after a decrease of 7%.
Why live in settlements that have become military outposts, today and maybe even tomorrow, and not move to the abundant center of the country where the children who have grown up and left are.
The tax benefits for residents in the book can no longer cover the loss of employment that may come with the chance of physical damage from enemy barrages.
Investments in machinery and equipment decreased in 2023 at a rate of 4.4%.
Therefore, through government incentives and tax benefits, we must increase the integration of robotic systems, including contemporary artificial intelligence, in order to produce more with fewer workers who are exposed to mental harm and with work productivity that will only increase if they invest in relevant professional training and high-tech activity in traditional industry.
With robotic improvements, artificial intelligence and a long school day, there will be fewer women frantically rushing to pick up their loved ones from the frames and fewer injured at crosswalks.
More on the same topic:
Gaza war
deficit
long school day
real estate
religious
High tech