Can Israel’s economy withstand the strain of an all-out war with Hezbollah?

IIsrael’s economy he should have headed for recovery. After all, many of the 300,000 workers who left their jobs to fight have now returned to offices, factories and farms. Instead, a difficult situation becomes more and more acute. GDP growth came in at just 0.7 percent between April and June on an annual basis, about 5.2 percentage points below economists’ expectations, according to Bloomberg news agency. On September 16, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, was forced to ask lawmakers to approve an emergency increase in the deficit. It was the second time he made such a request this year.