The Bank of Israel said on Friday that foreign currency reserves hit a record $80.59 billion at end-November, after breaking the $80 billion threshold, for the first time, in October. MENA Opportunities estimates that Israel held only $25 billion in 2004. As Israel’s dollars-in-the-bank have grown to dwarf the reserves held by many of its neighbors, economists said the windfall from its natural gas deposits will help Israel fight above its weight-class, and compete directly against the oil-rich nations of the Middle East in the coming years. “Israel’s ability to put spare cash in the bank for emergencies very much signifies that the Israeli economy is growing, especially compared to its Arab neighbors,” said Professor Joseph Pelzman, the Institute for International Economic Policy the Elliott School, George Washington University Professor of Economics, International Affairs and Law, in Washington, D.C., and a permanent visiting professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, in Be’er-Sheva. “What I found fascinating is that the world hasn’t really understood how marvelous the Israeli economy has become and, obviously will expand much faster, as its natural gas makes Israel a participant in the global energy business — and this because of the anti-Israel sentiments on many international levels that have worked to preclude Israel from being recognized,” Professor Pelzman said. Professor Pelzman’s latest book, Economics of the Middle East and North Africa, was published in September, 2012. “What was so remarkable,” he said, “is that my book is the very first economic study to compare Israel with its actual Arab neighbors in the Middle East, and the Jewish state really shines. Until now, in every single study by economists at the university, institutes, and especially at global institutions, including the United Nations or the World Bank, Israel is usually put up against European countries, even though it would be one of the smallest states, but, more importantly isn’t even in that region — Israel is in the Middle East.” Israel’s $80.6 billion in the vault was particularly favorable compared to its more populous neighbors.
In Cairo, the Bank of Egypt said the country’s foreign currency reserves stood at $18.6 billion at the end of October. The figure does not include any of the recent pledges from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait of $12 billion dollars in aid following the July 3 military coup that ousted Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Meanwhile, in Damascus, before the start of its civil war three years ago, the International Monetary Fund estimated Syria’s reserves – a state secret — at about $18 billion. But by April, 2013, Reuters reported that those reserves had dipped below $4 billion. At the time, Syrian central bank governor Adeeb Mayaleh told Reuters that Iran had already granted a $1 billion credit line to Syria, and that Damascus was close to an agreement with Russia and Iran to obtain fresh funds before it completely ran out of money, financing the civil war against the Free Syrian Army.
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