Israel also will compensate workers from the south who couldn’t do their jobs because of the rockets. The Manufacturers Association of Israel estimates that one in five workers in the south stayed home because of the war, but it couldn’t estimate the total amount of lost wages.
Israel’s biggest civilian cost by far will be the $1.3 billion in lost gross domestic product, an estimate provided to JTA by Moshe Asher, the director general of Israel’s Tax Authority.
Asher said the war affected industries across Israel, but one of the hardest hit was the tourism business. Of the 600,000 tourists expected to come on organized tours from July through the end of 2014, the Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association expects only 300,000 to make it.
Overall, the tour operators group estimates that organized tours will lose $350 million from July through December, similar to the $375 million loss estimated by the Israel Hotel Association. But the cancellations may have been toughest on private tour guides, who depend on summer tours to make it through the year.
(JTA)