Moody’s changed the Israeli government’s credit outlook to stable from negative, the U.S.-based rating agency company announced on Friday.
It cited the truce in Gaza with Hamas as a stabilizing factor for the adjustment, according to Bloomberg.
Israel’s outlook has been deemed negative since 2024.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reacted to the change, tweeting on Saturday evening: “We weren’t alarmed when the rating dropped; we believed in Israel’s economy, managed it properly, and knew that with victory in the war, the economy too would triumph with God’s help and demonstrate unparalleled resilience.”
He continued, “We’re continuing to say this today and are glad that finally the rating agencies are also understanding that the miracle of the Israeli economy is unprecedented.”
The American company’s report also affirmed its “Baa1” credit for Israel.
The country’s Baa1 credit rating was affirmed in the American company’s report.
In September 2024, Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating by two notches from the A2 level enjoyed by Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia to the “Baa1” level shared by Spain and Bulgaria.
Israel currently has a different rating at each of the three major credit rating agencies. At Fitch, Israel’s rating (A) is one notch higher than at Moody’s, alongside Japan and Slovenia. S&P Global Ratings also grades Israel at A, alongside Spain, Saudi Arabia and Iceland.
Moody’s, which has faced allegations of political bias also over its 2016 warning that a Trump presidency would “significantly” hurt the U.S. economy, lowered Israel’s outlook in 2023, before the outbreak of war, citing domestic political considerations.
In April 2023, Moody’s lowered Israel’s rating outlook from “positive” to “stable” due to the judicial reform effort led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At the time, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismissed the downgrade as a “pessimistic and unfounded political manifesto.”
