Throughout the last two years of Palestinian violence, much has been made of collateral damage – social, economic, familial, but there is another category worthy of attention: the “collateral beneficiaries.”
There are thousands of people in Israel who have benefited on the back of the violence – precious few of them for positive reasons.
From gravediggers to trauma psychologists and many less obvious professionals, there are industries thriving on the very evil perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorists.
Let us take the extreme but all-too-common example of a terror attack and see just who stands to gain, in random order:
* insurance premiums have skyrocketed in some cases
* assessors are employed to calculate the damage
* rabbis, counselors, psychologists offer guidance
* additional police officers are recruited; both sappers and regular officers
* ambulance and fire-fighting personnel are needed
* chemicals experts are called in to check the environment
* demolition experts, contractors and cleaners to repair or totally raze the damaged structures
* hospital staff are on call 24 hours a day
* rehabilitation centers are bursting at the seams
* blood bank staff work round the clock
* vehicle mechanics repair damaged cars and buses, if they can salvage them
* journalists flock to Israel, accompanied by Palestinian fixers
* concrete manufacturers are erecting bullet-proof walls wherever necessary
* The National Insurance Institute is inundated with claims
* politicians have an additional platform
* Ben Gurion International Airport is filled with Israelis on their way overseas
* security guards are outside virtually every public place, even clothing boutiques
* uniform manufacturers are sewing overtime
* some Israeli companies are benefiting from Blue & White campaigns
* overseas donations are up
* there is an increase in volunteers to charitable organizations and the Israel Defense Forces.
This list was complied during a five-minute brainstorming session. It is the tip of a massive iceberg of profits based on tragedy. Most of the recipients of this doom-cash would probably tell you they would much rather receive less take-home pay in the knowledge that their services were no longer a requirement in the war on terrorism.