Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich reacted this evening to the decision by international rating agency Moody’s to downgrade its sovereign rating for Israel from A1 to A2, with a negative outlook.
“Israel’s economy is strong by every measure. It can support the entire war effort, at the front and at home, until the victory that will be achieved with God’s help and with the heroism of the fighters, and return to a track of accelerated growth.
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“Hamas-ISIS set out on the terrible massacre on Simhat Torah with the aim of harming the State of Israel and the Jewish people in soul and body and to wipe them out. Hamas will not beat us, neither militarily nor economically.
“The announcement by Moody’s of the rating downgrade contains no serious economic arguments, and is entirely a political manifesto based on a pessimistic and untenable geopolitical world outlook reflecting a lack of faith in the military and national strength of Israel, and apparently lack of faith in the righteousness of its cause against its enemies. Moody’s cannot even bring itself in its announcement to describe Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations, and implies that it would have refrained from cutting the rating had Israel only accepted the suicidal plan proposed to it by some in the international community to stop the war and set up a terrorist Arab state in Judea and Samaria.
“We do not derive out national, military, social and economic strength from the way we are judged by the world, but from deep faith in the rightness of our cause, which rests on a glorious past of thousands of years and commitment to a yet more glorious future. Even the announcement by Moody’s will not undermine this and will not weaken us in our war for our independence and sovereignty in our homeland.
“I thank the accountant general, the governor of the Bank of Israel, and the other professionals in the Israeli economy for their efforts vis-à-vis the rating agency. Together, with God’s help, we will win, and we will continue to lead the Israeli economy responsibly and with judgment, and navigate it to a safe haven.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 10, 2024.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.