Frustrated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some Israeli business leaders are considering entering politics. They are having discreet, if preliminary, conversations about options, including forming a new party, running candidates on existing lists or volunteering for key jobs in major ministries.
In addition, a forum of Israel’s top 200 business leaders, made up of owners, chairmen and CEOs of major companies, is calling for early elections “to save Israel from a deep economic crisis.” Half of the companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s TA-35 index are represented, including the CEOs of the four largest banks.
The war against Hamas is putting pressure on the Israeli economy. The central bank estimates that the conflict will cost about $67 billion through 2025, or almost 15% of annual gross domestic product. According to the International Monetary Fund, GDP per capita fell in 2023 for the first time in eight years, and the government is on track to post one of the largest budget deficits of this century in 2024.
