Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer admitted Wednesday that the Israeli economy, which has been badly hit by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, could not bear a possible long period of confrontation.
"The Israeli economy cannot bear the burden of an active military confrontation over the long-term," the Ha'aretz Daily quoted the defense minister as saying.
"If Israel continues to live in warfare for years, ... it will not be able to rehabilitate its economy," he added.
Ben Eliezer reiterated that the political method, negotiating with the Palestinians, but not military operations, is the only solution to the terrorism issue, although "Israel would not make any compromise on fighting terror."
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Silvan Shalom called on drastically cutting back the security expenditure in the 2003 budget, stressing the country could not afford the huge expenditure.
According to the finance minister, Israel held the world record for the percentage of its budget spent on security, some 20 percent, and the expenditure was disrupting government activity in all other areas of the economy.
(Xinhua News Agency July 4, 2002)
