Unemployment in "Israel" has risen sharply to more than 16 percent amid the ongoing wars on Iran and Lebanon, impacting nearly one million settlers. This marks the highest jobless rate since the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis in March 2026 reported being unable to work for economic reasons, according to Haaretz. 

“As of March, there were 750,000 Israelis who were unemployed. For comparison, in October 2023, the figure stood at 10.4 percent, with some 467,000 unemployed people. In June 2025, during the first war with Iran, the figure stood at some 10.1 percent,” the newspaper highlighted.

Regional war and attacks intensify

Throughout the war, which began on February 28, Hezbollah and Iran carried out numerous missile, rocket, and drone strikes against the Israeli entity.

Key economic infrastructure was hit, including the Bazan Oil Refinery in Haifa and the ICL Rotem petrochemical facility in al-Naqab.

Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets and drones toward northern Israeli settlements in response to the Israeli aggression on Lebanon. Despite a declared ceasefire, "Israel" continues to commit daily massacres in south Lebanon amid massive destruction of towns and villages.

Local officials and mayors in northern "Israel" have expressed frustration with the government, which had previously assured settlers that "Hezbollah no longer posed a threat."

The entity's economy remains under severe strain, still recovering from the earlier war. Tens of thousands of settlers displaced after October 2023 have yet to return to their settlements.

During the previous war on Lebanon, commercial activity in northern "Israel" dropped by 70 percent within five months.

Concerns over wider global impact

With signs of a possible renewed US-Israeli aggression against Iran, concerns are growing about broader global economic repercussions.

The United Nations warned last month that tens of millions worldwide could fall below the poverty line in the coming months as a result of ongoing wars.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also cautioned in mid-April that continued war could reduce global growth to around two percent, a level historically linked to recession.

Source:Websites