Jadaliyya introduces the launch of “Israel’s Zombie Economy,” a breakthrough series of broadcasts on Israel’s political economy with Shir Hever in conversation with Jadaliyya Co-Editor Bassam Haddad, in five consecutive parts. The series explores how Israel sustains its war machine despite mounting casualties, economic stagnation, and international isolation—revealing a society held together by financial manipulation, arms industry profiteering, and deepening political fragmentation. Through five interviews bridging academic analysis and informed commentary, economist Dr. Shir Hever examines the unsustainable contradictions driving Israel's social, political, and economic collapse amid the Gaza genocide.
Israel's Zombie Economy Part 1: The War Currency
Bassam Haddad Interviews Shir Hever
The initial session of the series explores “The War Currency,” focusing on (a) Israel’s approach to managing a soldier shortage in the wake of numerous deserters, injured, and deceased personnel. Additionally, we examine (b) the consequences of money printing, including the potential for currency devaluation, and (c) the resulting overspending despite a stagnant tax base and economic stagnation. Stay tuned for Session 2, more at www.PalestineInContext.org.
Israel's Zombie Economy
Part 1: The War Currency
Part 2: The Counterrevolution of the Israeli Arms Industry
Part 3: Israel’s Breakdown into Tribes
Part 4: Is Israel’s Economy on the Verge of Collapse?
Part 5: The Disinformation Bubble
Produced by Jadaliyya, Cosponsored by Gaza In Context and Mondoweiss.
Featuring
Dr. Shir Hever is an economist and political scientist. He was born and grew up in Jerusalem, now living in Germany after giving up his Israeli citizenship. He is the Managing Director of the Alliance for Justice Between Israelis and Palestinians, a member of the Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, and until recently was the coordinator of the military embargo campaign of BDS. Shir studies and has written widely on the political economy of Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and the arms trade. His most recent book is the Privatization of Israeli Security (Pluto Press, 2017).
Bassam Haddad (Host) is Founding Director of the Middle East and Islamic Studies Program and Associate Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and co-editor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Bassam is Co-Founder/Editor of Jadaliyya Ezine and Executive Director of the Arab Studies Institute. He serves as Founding Editor of the Arab Studies Journal and the Knowledge Production Project. He is co-producer/director of the award-winning documentary film, About Baghdad, and director of the acclaimed series Arabs and Terrorism. Bassam is Executive Producer of Status Podcast Channel and Director of the Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI). He received MESA's Jere L. Bacharach Service Award in 2017 for his service to the profession. Currently, Bassam is working on his second Syria book titled Understanding The Syrian Tragedy: Regime, Opposition, Outsiders (forthcoming, Stanford University Press).