Intifada Cost to Israel- US $12 Billion

March 14, 2005

In the study conducted by BDI, the company compared the Israeli monetary loss to that of the Palestinian Authority over the same period. It showed that the economic damage to the PA came to approximately US $4.5 billion.

BDI explained that relative to the per capita gross domestic product, damage to the Palestinians was three times that of the average Israeli. The statistics revealed that the Palestinian GDP per capita dropped by some 30%.

However, when taking into account the respective economies' potential growth over the four-year period, it was the Israelis who took the harder knock with the current per capita GDP of US $16,700 reportedly 11% lower than the previously forecast level of US $18,500. The loss of potential growth incurred by the Palestinians was US $1,200.

Besides the monetary loss, BDI said the Palestinian violence has had a further marked effect on Israeli business. The business-risk rating was 33% higher in October 2004 than it was before the outbreak of terror in 2000, when the country's rating was in line with the global average.

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