How Much Does the Middle East War Cost? Israel and the US Are Already Spending Billions

After the June 13 Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and strategic infrastructure , the conflict in the Middle East entered a completely new phase. Iran responded by shelling targets in Israel, and the US joined the conflict by shelling three Iranian uranium enrichment facilities in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan on the night of Saturday to Sunday (June 21-22).

The transformation of the conflict in the Middle East into an increasingly fierce clash between great powers will come at enormous costs.

War with Iran will cost Israel a lot of money

As the Wall Street Journal recently estimated, the war against Iran is already costing Israel hundreds of millions of dollars a day.

The most expensive is the interception of Iranian missiles. Experts estimate that it could cost from several dozen to even 200 million dollars per day. In addition, there are the costs of maintaining the aircraft in the air, fuel, ammunition, including bombs, and repairs to destroyed buildings. According to some estimates, rebuilding or repairing the damage to date would cost at least 400 million dollars.

A single activation of David's Sling, Israel's anti-missile system, costs $700,000, assuming two interceptors are in use, said Yehoshua Kalisky of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. The cost of intercepting a ballistic missile by the Arrow 3 system is $4 million, compared with $2 million to $3 million by the older Arrow version.

"It's much more expensive on a daily basis than the war in Gaza or with Hezbollah. It's all because of the ammunition. It's a big expense," said economist Zvi Eckstein, director of the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Israel's Reichmann University, referring to offensive and defensive ammunition.

The United States has already spent billions on the Middle East conflict.

The active involvement of the United States in the latest installment of the Middle East conflict also comes at a huge cost to the Trump administration. It is certainly too early to provide specific estimates, but data on previous spending on American operations in the region shows how costly this involvement is.

According to a report last year from Brown University’s Institute for International and Public Affairs , a year of conflict in the Middle East (from October 7, 2023 to September 30, 2024) costs $22.76 billion.

The report's authors only took into account financial and military support for Israel, additional funding for US operations in the region, and increased costs of operations. The report does not include support for other Middle Eastern countries, losses for the airline sector, or maritime trade.

Now that US involvement in the conflict in the region has entered an active phase, these costs will increase dramatically.

The cost of the war in the Middle East will be determined by its duration

Karnit Flug, former governor of the Bank of Israel, currently representing the think tank Israel Democracy Institute, emphasized that "the main factor that will really determine the cost of the war will be its length." According to her, the Israeli economy will be able to handle the costs of a short campaign. "If it's a week, that's one thing. If we're talking about two weeks or a month, that's a completely different story," she added.

According to the Institute's estimates, the month-long war with Iran will cost Israel about $12 billion.