Israel puts Cost of Gaza at $ 2.52 Billion

The conflict in Gaza has proved costly for Israel. It has put the cost of the war at $2.52 billion.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slashed  government expenditure by 2 percent this year to make up for the huge loss to the exchequer, reports The Guardian.

The only departments exempt from the reductions are the military and the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet.  This would mean that the common man and the poor people will bear the brunt of the cuts ultimately.

Protesting against the move, Meir Cohen, the Israeli welfare minister said, "From whom will we take? From those who have nothing to put in their children's sandwiches for school?" Cohen said on Israeli army radio.

As a result of the cuts, the defense ministry will receive $420 million to cover the expenditure for aerial strikes, fuel, food and arms, reports Israel Today.

Economists have estimated that the war may have caused a decline of 0.5 percent in the country's GDP growth.

However, Netanyahu defended the cuts before the cabinet meeting on Sunday saying that security comes first.

Also the Israeli communities near the Gaza strip have been asking to increase the already huge compensation package.

But Netanyahu is determined to go ahead with the cuts.

"We are starting to fill in what is lacking in the defense budget, as we saw recently, defense comes before all else."We will start to fill in what is missing in the defense establishment. This reflects our understanding of the priorities, with security coming before all else. We did great things, but this requires us to roll up our sleeves to enable the IDF, the Israel security agency [Shin Bet], and the security services to continue to defend Israel effectively," he said, reports The Guardian.

The proposed reduction, which comes near to $ 561 m, will help in increasing the budge of Israel's armed forces and Shin Bet.