Israel’s economy is “experiencing problems” as it enters a new stage of the war and pulls thousands of troops from Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision does not mean the end of the war is near as he expects “many more months” of fighting ahead.

Paul Rodgers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University, told Newstalk Breakfast today how the decision to pull troops from Gaza was due to economic reasons.

“Basically, they are withdrawing some of their reserve troops, not least because of their economy,” he said.

“The Israeli economy is experiencing problems because of a lack of skilled personnel and they are finding this necessary.

“We are being told this is because the war is being scaled down somewhat but this is very difficult to believe.”

Difficult war

The war has proved to be much more difficult for Israel than anticipated, according to the professor.

“In a sense [the war] is continuing, but at a slightly lower level," said Mr Rodgers.

“This is partly because the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are finding it extremely difficult to dislodge Hamas.

“We are 12 weeks into the war but they are still unable to find the 100-plus hostages. In spite of what’s being said, it’s proving difficult for the IDF at the moment.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem | Image: Abir Sultan/AP/Press Association Images

Mr Rodgers said the country now also has to worry about war with Lebanon.

“There are two proxies in the potential war in Lebanon - that is the US and Iran - and neither of those wants this war to expand suddenly out there,” he said.

“I’m not sure the Israelis do either because they would then need to be involved in a huge number of air strikes in Lebanon.

“That is because they cannot control it by going in on the ground – it’s proved pretty fatal before.

“Essentially, there may be something of a hold on preventing the whole problem of an extension of the conflict to Lebanon from going hot.”

The Red Sea

The Red Sea is another bone of contention for Israel.

“You have the separate issue of the Houthis in Yemen who are basically trying to prevent Israeli shipping from going through the Red Sea,” said Mr Rodgers.

“They are having some success on that and they are doing it because of what the Israelis are doing in Gaza - that is the Houthis perception.

“The end result of that is there’s a real risk of the US and Britain of getting into some sort of shooting war at that end of the Red Sea.”

It comes as Israel’s Supreme Court has today struck down a controversial law passed by the Israeli Government that aimed to strip the courts of certain powers.

Overshadowed

Mr Rodgers said this was very significant news but has been overshadowed by the war in Gaza.

“This government in Israel, which is an extremely hard-lined government, is not getting its way as far as taking greater control over the politics of the country,” he said.

“If it wasn’t for the war this [ruling] would be a dominant theme but, of course, the war has overtaken that in some ways.

“To some extent, for Netanyahu, the huge concentration on the war in Gaza is a kind of diversion that has come at a good time.”

Mr Rodgers added this diversion “won't last” and people will see what is happening in Israel at some point.

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Main image: Palestinians stand by a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza Strip on 24-11-23. Image: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo