ESTIMATING THE COSTS
Because Israel has never released all the necessary data, we’ve taken the numbers available from various Israeli research studies, extrapolated them, and adjusted the results for interest and inflation. In arriving at a very conservative estimate, we made sure to count only the extra costs of controlling the occupied territories, not the costs of basic-services that settlers would receive if they lived in Israel proper, or the buildup of the state’s military.
TOTAL INCOME FROM THE OCCUPATION: $8.5 billion
TOTAL SETTLEMENT SUBSIDIES: $34.3 billion
TOTAL SECURITY COSTS: $62.7 billion
ANNUAL COST (IN 2010 DOLLARS): $6.3 billion
BUDGET PER NONSETTLER (AS OF 2010): $11,087
BUDGET PER SETTLER (AS OF 2010): $22,522
TOTAL NET COST: $88.5 billion
ANNUAL COST (IN 2010 DOLLARS): $6.3 billion