There is a big concern amongst Israel’s economists just now. If there is to be another lockdown – say for the month of September – can the economy take it once more without any major damage?

The good news is that the government’s fiscal debt has been dropping throughout 2021. It has just dropped below the 10% level. The prime cause of this has been that revenues have proved to be much stronger than initially expected. People are still buying cars in droves and the real estate market is as hot as ever, both avenues continue to provide very healthy taxes for the Treasury chieftains.

On the other hand, bureaucracy and vested interests are playing havoc with micro mechanisms. Take for example “Stripe“, an American company. It provides a practical, simple and cost effective platform for consumers to purchase products and services through e-commerce.

Sounds great, no? And don’t forget, Israelis love their internet buying.

The problem is that for the past four years, the paperwork required to receive operational approval has been too cumbersome, to be polite. 44 countries have no problem with them, but Israel does. Meanwhile, Israelis are assumedly paying an extra 2% approximately in transfer costs. just because a couple of civil servants are ‘doing their best’ (or worse) on behalf of those who they are trying to serve.

As ever with Israel, the big numbers hide major anomalies that the economy and society simply could do without.