Finance & economics | Don’t push it

How vulnerable is Israel to sanctions?

So far, measures have had little effect. That could change

An Israeli national flag hangs outside a clothing store in Jerusalem
Photograph: Getty Images

The outcry was immediate. On August 11th Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s minister of national security, said that his country could permanently occupy the Gaza Strip. “Sanctions,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign-policy chief, hit back, “must be on the agenda”. It was unclear whether Mr Borrell meant they would be placed on Mr Ben-Gvir or Israel itself; either way, European support for measures targeting Israel is growing. A few months ago Micheál Martin, Ireland’s foreign minister, and a supporter of sanctions, said that his colleagues were beginning to consider the question of “what if” they went for them.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Don’t push it”

From the August 17th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Could war in the Gulf push oil to $100 a barrel?

Missiles are flying over a region that supplies a third of the world’s crude

FRANCE-TRADITION-LEISURE-TOURISM

How bond investors soured on France

They now regard the euro zone’s second-largest economy as riskier than Spain



Why economic warfare nearly always misses its target

There is no such thing as a strategic commodity

A tonne of public debt is never made public

New research suggests governments routinely hide their borrowing