Preliminary Estimates: The Brief Battle with Iran Cost Israel 500 Million Shekels

SadaNews - Preliminary estimates within the Israeli security establishment indicate that the recent military confrontation with Iran, which erupted on Sunday and whose repercussions are still ongoing, has cost approximately 500 million shekels so far. Relevant parties assert that this is a partial estimate and is subject to increase as assessments of the damages and expenses related to military operations are completed.

According to what the newspaper "Israel Hayom" reported today, Monday, informed sources emphasized that these figures are preliminary and cautious, as developments on the ground continue to be monitored and a comprehensive assessment of the cost of operations has not yet been concluded. This makes it too early to estimate the final cost of the recent confrontation with Iran or to determine whether events will lean towards de-escalation.

In parallel, some officials in the Israeli Finance Ministry criticized the management of the security budget, considering that the current figures once again reflect the army's difficulty in controlling its expenses, despite its budget amounting to around 200 billion shekels, and it is expected to remain at high levels in the coming years.

Conversely, the security establishment rejected these criticisms, with sources within stating that the recent confrontation with Iran highlights the nature of what they described as "emergency missions," meaning unexpected events that demand an immediate response and cannot be previously included within traditional budget frameworks. The newspaper quoted a security official saying that "what happened today is a clear example of the emergency missions faced by the army."

Despite the exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran having ended, the issue of financing the costs of the confrontation remains under discussion within the Israeli government, as it has not yet been determined whether the Ministry of Defense will receive additional allocations to cover the expenses related to operations associated with Iran and Lebanon, or if it will be required to fund them from its current budget.

According to sources familiar with the discussions, the security budget is already suffering from a significant deficit, and while communications with the Finance Ministry continue in what is described as "positive" atmospheres, the gaps between the two sides remain wide.

This comes after the Iranian armed forces announced on Monday that they had halted their attacks on Israel, asserting that they had executed a "painful response" to the recent Israeli strikes, threatening to take harsher measures if Israeli attacks continue or expand, including towards Lebanon.

Iranian President, Masoud Bezhakian, also confirmed that his country continues the diplomatic path to end the war, but stated that it "will not leave the battlefield," while U.S. President Donald Trump remarked that both Israel and Iran want to reach an immediate ceasefire.