The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the damage to Israel’s economy from the air war with Iran could reach more than 9 billion shekels ($2.93 billion) a week. Under Israel’s Home Front Forces’ current “red” restrictions – restrictions on commuting, orders to close schools and orders to mobilize reserve forces – economic losses are estimated at 9.4 billion shekels per week, mainly starting next week, the newspaper said.
The ministry asked the domestic front to move to “orange,” or limited activity, where restrictions on workplaces are less stringent than “red.” In this scenario, the loss to the economy would be 4.3 billion shekels per week.
Israel and the United States began bombing Iran on Saturday, triggering a wave of retaliatory attacks in Israel and across the Middle East and disrupting energy exports from the Gulf.
U.S. and Israeli officials said the campaign could last several weeks.
Schools in Israel are closed this week. Gatherings are prohibited, employee activities are prohibited except for essential services, and most employees are working from home.
Israel’s economy, which suffered some damage from the Gaza war with Hamas, grew by 3.1% in 2025. Following the October ceasefire, growth in 2026 was predicted to exceed 5%.
(1 dollar = 3.0733 shekels)
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Andrei Khalip)
