Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Israel dropped by almost 50% last year in comparison to the year before as the country continues to feel the effects of last summer’s Gaza conflict, a new UN report has revealed.
The report, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), shows that only €5.7bn was invested into the country in 2014 in comparison with €10.5bn in 2013, a decrease of €4.8bn, or 46%. Israel’s FDI in other countries also decreased by 15%, from €4.2bn in 2013 to €3.5bn last year.
Dr Ronny Manos, one of the report’s authors and a researcher in the department of Management and Economics at the Open University of Israel, said that the decline was primarily caused by the fallout from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Operation Protective Edge and international boycotts against the country for alleged violations of international law.
“We believe that what led to the drop in investment in Israel are Operation Protective Edge and the boycotts Israel is facing,” she told Israeli news outlet Ynet News.
“In the past there were large transactions such as Waze [a traffic app] and ISCAR Metalworking [supplier of metal tools] which boosted investment, but over the past year there were not enough such deals.”
The seven-week Gaza conflict, in which the IDF entered the coastal enclave to prevent Palestinian militant rocket fire, reportedly cost Israel over a billion shekels (approximately €200m) from its defence budget, according to an investigation into the price of the conflict by German publication Deutsche Welle.
Further, the threat of rockets also deterred tourists, where 40% of the Israeli tourism sector is garnered from the summer months, and slowed consumption, especially in Israel’s southern regions near the Gaza Strip, Israeli business journalist Eitan Avriel told DW.
International pressure on companies to refrain from investing in the Israeli economy has heightened with the rise of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Last October, drinks company Sodastream International closed one of its West Bank factories in a victory for the movement.
Despite the specific reasons given for the decline in FDI in Israel, the report also notes that FDI fell globally, from €1.3tn in 2013 to €1.1tn in 2014, a drop of 16%. This global decline was caused by a number of geopolitical factors, such as instability in the Middle East and tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine.
Manos was not immediately available for comment.
http://europe.newsweek.com/foreign-investment-israel-slashed-by-half-329269
This is a good example of the effectiveness of boycotts. The BDS movement has put a real dent in the Israeli economy if half their foreign investment just disappeared.
This also provides some useable numeric indication of how many people are on our side. People boycotting Israel likely know who’s destroying America, just as people boycotting GMO foods likely have the big picture too.
You’re not going to hear from them, or see them marching in the streets, because those activities usually aren’t prudent or effective in our present situation, but by simply exercising a little judgement regarding where they spend their money, they’ve propelled fast food chains into going organic, put a dent into Israel’s economy, and killed the Zionist “news” business.
MSNBC is down to a lousy 25,000 viewers — NY Times is bankrupt. That means we’re winning, in a big way, and have many millions of Americans behind us, even if you don’t see or hear from them. (I won’t even mention gun sales)
You’re not alone. Even if your immediate neighbors are useless drunks like mine are, you won’t have to look very far to find people on your side “when the time comes” (as Mark Koernke would say). Just be ready, as if you had an army of millions behind you, because you DO.
“But were the ‘Chosen Ones’. Look at those bad, old terrorists in Palestine! Were history’s victims don’t cha know.” The stinking parasitic joos can no longer hide their stench. The whole world has taken a good whiff and decided something is rotten in Israel.
Thank god we get some GOOD news once in a while. But sadly, only once in a great while. Not enough to knock the frown off our faces.
Why do I get the feeling all of this anti-Israeli Zionist Jew rhetoric is a ruse to make them look like the victims again as this war is getting underway? They’ve been doing it for centuries with every war, why would they not do it with this war? Just sayin’.
Remember the Mossad’s motto: “By deception we shall wage war.”