An Israeli soldier walks near tanks as they are stationed near the border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. As Israel begins its ground offensive to occupy Gaza City, defying international and domestic pressure to negotiate a ceasefire with the militant group Hamas, it skirts ever closer to becoming a pariah state. We will have to deal with a closed economy,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a Finance Ministry conference Monday, giving a rare admission of the war’s effect on Israel’s international standing. It will take months to fully occupy Gaza City, Israeli military leaders say. On Tuesday, Spain joined Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia in saying it would boycott the Eurovision contest if Israel were to join.