יום שלישי, י״ד אב תשפ״וTuesday, July 28, 2026
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Hang on to your shekels. The Israeli economy is stable and Moody's okays its A1 debt rating. But in US, one economist says America’s debt is understated by 75 percent and is $70 trillion.
IBM has announced it is buying up the Israeli data security company Trusteer for an undisclosed sum but which market analysts estimate is in the $300-400 million range. IBM said the purchase advances its investment in cloud-delivered software and services. Trusteer provides software solutions to protect companies from financial fraud and security threats. As part […]
Advocated for the dolarization of Argentina's economy.
By JTA
An Israeli energy company has announced plans to export natural gas via pipelines through Turkey and other countries in the Middle East. The Delek Group, the parent firm for several energy and gas exploration companies, said in its new prospectus that it plans to export some of the newly discovered natural gas off the Mediterranean […]
The American dollar’s worldwide weakness helped drive down the shekel-dollar rate to below 3.53 shekels to the dollar Thursday, the lowest level since September 2011. One shekel now is worth 28 cents. Analysts have pointed to the lack of certainty over who will replace Stanley Fischer as Governor of the Bank of Israel, but the […]
By Shalom Bear
Professor Leo Leiderman withdrew his candidacy for governor of the Bank of Israel, just two days before his election was to be announced. Leiderman's withdrawal comes just days after Yaakov Frankel withdrew his candidacy, after an old scandal involving a duty free in Hong Kong resurfaced. PM Netanyahu and FM Lapid stated their regret with […]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid have decided to appoint Professor Leo Leiderman as the new governor of the Bank of Israel. Leiderman has a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, and is currently a professor of economics at Tel Aviv University. Leiderman used to work in the Bank of […]
The Tel Aviv Local Planning and Building Commission approved on Wednesday the "Keren HaKirya" plan for an 80-story high office, commercial and residential tower, which will be Israel’s tallest skyscraper, the Globes newspaper reported. The IDF headquarters are located on the nine-acre site, owned by the Israel Lands Administration. Four towers will be built, two […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
A new invention from Israel that falls in line with the Jewish state’s reputation as a “start-up nation,” potentially revolutionizing life for the blind and the visually impaired, will go on sale in the United States in September. The device, called OrCam, works via a 5-megapixel camera that attaches to glasses and can recognize text. […]
Palestinian Authority entrepreneurs are not interested in politics and concentrate on business in a Cisco-Israel training program, Forbes business magazine reported. Israeli Jewish high-tech experts coach PA CEOs and middle-level managers in the sessions. Cisco CEO John Chambers began thinking about the program after meeting with chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in 2008. “I personally went […]
The PA’s all-or-nothing position years ago robbed itself of enjoying Israel’s superhighway. Now it refuses train lines that would propel economic growth. Why? Because it would help those awful settlers.
Yesh Atid and party chairman Yair Lapid are facing their first charges of unethical conduct following the revelation that one of Lipid’s advisers is a part-owner of a beer company that is due tor receive aid from the Finance Ministry that Lapid heads. Hillel Kobrinsky is an adviser to Lapid and holds a 4 percent […]
Israel’s increasing arms exports has made it one of the most important in the world, with a record $7.5 billion worth of arms exported in 2012, according to a Minister of Defense’s Export and Cooperation report on Tuesday. The new record is even more impressive when taking into account budget cuts in Western countries. "The […]
What do Rami Levi, Harel Wizel and Eil Orgad have in common? They are Israelis stores in Judea and Samaria. They also may be the key to destroying the peace process and making real peace.
IKEA is considering extending its operations in Israel and opening up a branch in Ramallah, in the Palestinian Authority, and in Be’er Sheva and Jerusalem, the Hebrew-language newspaper Yediot Acharonot reported. Matthew Bronfman, who holds the IKEA franchise for Israel, reported said that “we'll be happy to help establish the store” in Ramallah. The planned […]
An alleged shoplifting incident in Hong Kong in 2006 has become a major issue over whether Yaakov Frenkel will return to his former post as Governor of the Bank of Israel, replacing Stanley Fischer who is quitting in mid-term to return to the United States. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s nomination of Frenkel two weeks ago […]
It’s amazing how an election victory can change the stripes of a tiger, namely Yair Lapid. The sensation of Israeli politics who campaigned on behalf of the middle class and denounced the government for promising their situation will be better, now says the same thing. Barely three months in office and weeks after imposing austerity […]
Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett announced during his visit to China that Beijing officials have agreed to carry out a survey to determine the value of a free trade policy. China previously has rejected approaches from Israel that it conduct a study, and this week’s agreement, a pre-condition for a trade agreement, was unexpected. […]
Governor Jack Markell, the only sitting Jewish Governor in the United States, and a delegation of Delaware entrepreneurs and business leaders are visiting Israel on a week-long economic development mission. The trip highlights Delaware’s strong economic ties to Israel and aims to further raise Israeli business interest in the State. The delegation will be meeting […]
The Bank of Israel ordered on Monday a 50 percent cut in fees Israel’s banks charge customers’ checking accounts. The banks make money, piles of it, by milking customers for two transactions for every check – one for the deposit and one for the transfer of funds. Bank of Israel Supervisor David Zaken ordered a […]
The Israeli-founded Mobileye firm, which develops camera-based program for the auto industry to assist drivers, has raised $400 million through five investors, including Enterprise Rent A Car, to raise the company’s value to $1.5 billion. “This successful transaction is a testament to the strength of our business and the company’s future prospects. We are excited […]
Outgoing Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer admitted that he does not understand everything in Israel but after only eight years in the country since taking the helm at the Bank, he is another expert on the Middle East. He previously has injected his dovish political views through hints and gestures, but his […]
The Supreme Court has ordered Tel Aviv to enforce the law that prohibits stores from operating on the Sabbath. It overruled a February ruling by a lower court, which accepted the city's claim that it carried out its responsibility by fining business owners without a need to force them to close. The three-judge panel, including […]
Watch a Chinese film crew capturing the magic of Jerusalem's Old City as a backdrop for a full-length romantic comedy. It’s also going to give Israel a big boost in tourism.
The money markets can relax. There is economic growth after Stanley Fischer, who has decided that Israel is not his home. Prof. Yaakov Frenkel, who once headed the Bank of Israel, is returning.
Teva, the world leader in generic medication will be soon be launching a generic version of Pfizer's Viagra in the UK and Europe. Pfizer's Viagra patents expired this past week in the UK and parts of Europe, allowing other manufacturers to move in. In the US, a court ruling has prevented Teva from introducing generic […]
EMC, or its subsidiary VMWare are in talks to acquire the Israeli company ScaleIO for between $200 and $250 million, according to a report in Globes . ScaleIO was founded in 2010, and has 20 employees split between Israel and Palo Alto, with sales of less than $1 million.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is trying to recruit Harvard Prof. Elkhanan Helpman, who previously moved to Israel form the Soviet Union, to replace Stanley Fischer as head of the Bank of Israel. Helpman also was the Prime Minister's first choice to head the Bank seven years ago, but after Helpman’s refusal, Fischer was imported from […]
Offshore gas fields should be allowed to export no more than 40 percent of the natural gas they produce, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday. The Cabinet is expected to approve the recommendation at Sunday’s weekly session. The limit is more restrictive than the 53 percent that was suggested by a committee set up to […]
Cisco’s CEO touts Arab-Jewish teamwork, meet with Peres, announces an innovation venture with Bezeq communications system, and predicts Israel will be the world’s first totally digital country. Cisco CEO John Chambers, speaking about his company’s involvement in Israel Electric Corporation's fiber optic venture, predicted on Wednesday, "Israel is about to become the first fully digital […]
Exports of Israeli Foods and Beverages to the United States reached a record $224 million in 2012, reported Kosher Today, which attributed the statistics to the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. While it spelled a 3% increase over 2011, it represented nearly 50% growth since 2008 when exports were valued at only $144 million. […]
SodaStream, the Israel-based company that makes machines to convert tap water into fizz, has signed a deal with KitchenAid to join forces for a new machine expected to be on the market before the end of the year. SodaStream was rumored two weeks ago to become part of PepsiCo, which denied reports that it was […]
Outgoing Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer dodged questions from the Financial Times on whether he wants to succeed Ben Bernanke as director of the Federal Reserve. Fischer is quitting his job in Israel only two years after his second term started, and it has been widely speculated he wants to take a run for […]
According to the Mas Hachnasa (Israel Tax Authority) website, senior members of the IRS, met yesterday in Jerusalem with the Tax Authority director, Moshe Asher and other senior tax officials, to discuss strengthening cooperation between the authorities. The meeting placed an emphasis on the exchange of information between the two tax authorities and the authorities' […]
The Knesset Monday approved on the first reading a bill that would cut salaries of Knesset Members and the President of Israel by 10 percent. Salaries of ministers and judges would be cut by one percent. The measure passed by a margin of 38-15 but likely will be altered by Knesset committee that will discuss […]
Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz signed an Open Skies agreement with the EU on Monday in Luxembourg. The agreement which is to be gradually implemented over the next 5 years, until it goes fully into effect in 2018, should lower prices significantly on flights between Israel and Europe. Open Skies will allow EU and Israeli […]
Google out-navigates Facebook. Google will pay $1.3 billion for Waze. Coming on top of $2 billion purchase of Iscar, and rumors of SodaStream next in line, Big Business is far from boycotting Israel.
By JTA
A new report shows that 20 percent of Jewish households in the New York metropolitan area are poor, a figure only marginally lower than the rate in the general population. The report released Thursday by UJA-Federation of New York found more than 560,000 people living in 200,000 poor or near-poor Jewish households, a figure that […]
If you can’t beat’em, join’em. PepsiCo is reportedly bidding $2 billion buy out the Israeli SodaStream firm. A buyout could jeopardize the factory in Maaleh Adumim because of the boycott movement.
By JTA
Argentinean real estate mogul Eduardo Elsztain said he will invest $75 million in Israel businesses, including $57 million in the struggling IDB group and $18 million in Ganden Holdings, both controlled by Israeli businessman Nochi Dankner. In February Elsztain, a vice president of the World Jewish Congress, bought a 10 percent stake in Ganden for […]
The Israeli-based Wix website developer company has filed for a $75 million initial public offering (IPO) to raise the company’s value to $400 million. Last week, the Israeli-based Kamada medical treatments company completed an IPO prior its stock trading on NASDAQ last week. Software developer Babylon also has filed for IP, and Caesarstone Sdot Yam […]
Israel is the home to 84,000 millionaires, putting it in 10th place in the world’s ranking of the number of millionaires as a percentage of the number of households, according to The Boston Consulting Group, in its report "Maintaining Momentum in a Complex World: Global Wealth 2013." In percentage term, there is a millionaire in […]
Israeli VAT tax went up 1% to 18% on Saturday night. It's now at its highest level in a decade. The government expects the tax hike will raise an additional NIS 4.4 billion a year in revenue, assuming the economy stays strong. The price of gasoline also rose to NIS 7.52 for 95 octane. This […]
Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers will join several other world financial leaders on June 18 for a $30,000 farewell party for Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, the Globes business newspaper reported Thursday. Fischer is leaving in the middle of his second term of office after having made aliyah to take the […]
Shurat HaDin sent a warning letter to TIAA-CREF last month informing its leadership that the boycott resolution was a violation of both federal and New York State law.
Israel’s Waze user-based social mapping and navigation startup seems to be too Zionist for Facebook, which has been trying to pay up to $1 billion for the company. Facebook reportedly insists that the Waze management team re-locate to California from Israel, a condition that money can’t buy, at least not yet, according to the AllThingsD […]
Bad publicity sometimes is great for business, especially if it involves Hitler. JC Penney hurriedly removed a billboard showing a tea kettle that looked like Hitler. It sold out on the Internet.
Microsoft and Cisco learn how Abbas defines ”direct talks.” Their officials are to attend an Israel-PA high-tech confab. Abbas’ adviser says it’s “unacceptable.” It gives the world the wrong impression.
What makes a brand extraordinary is its “why” – the emotional reason that makes a person want to purchase that item. Simple, right? Basic, too. What’s more, it works.
By JTA
The electric car company Better Place, which had pledged to erect electric car charging stations throughout Israel, filed for bankruptcy in an Israeli court on Sunday. The company, based in Palo Alto, Calif., fired about half of its staff in October 2012. Better Place provides charge spots and battery-switch stations for the Renault Fluence ZE, […]
Readers are already asking us if newly appointed acting commissioner of the IRS, Daniel Werfel is a Jew.
With the deal Facebook and Waze not yet closed, Google has reportedly jumped into the fray, making a play for the Israeli start-up company, who's opening bid is at $1 billion dollars. There's another alternative also on the table now, Waze turns down both giants, keeps its independence, and raises money with another round of venture […]
The shekel-dollar rate has soared 4 percent in the past two weeks, with the latest jump today (Wednesday) prompted by expectations that the Bank of Israel will lower the interest rate again in June. The rate crossed the level of 3.69 shekels to the dollar on Wednesday after having dropped under 3.55 shekels to the […]
The government can expect to rake in billions of dollars from natural gas exports in the next 20 years, claimed Yitzchak Tshuva, controlling shareholder of Delek, which is a major partner in the Nobel Energy consortium that has begun pumping gas from its off-shore oil discovery. Opposing views are trying to prohibit exports, arguing that […]
Israel has (more) gas. Baruch Hashem. But who should profit?
Fundamentalists were working overtime before Passover to describe how just as in Biblical times, the Jews were spared from the plague. Now the locusts are working overtime, just in time for Shavuot.
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer announced on Monday a surprise cut the prime interest rate as part of his battle to fight the appreciation of the shekel and help the economy to keep growing. The financial markets responded with the shekel-dollar rate rising more than 1.5 percent to the level of 3.61 shekels to […]
Waze and Facebook have reached an impasse in their negotiations, but not over whether Facebook will buy Waze for 700 million dollars, or a clean billion, but over Israel, according to the Israeli site Telecom News. Facebook wants to close down Waze's Raanana office, and transfer some of the developers to the U.S. While the […]
Waze may be Facebook’s third purchase in Israel, not for the Waze maps but for the traffic it can generate through Facebook, at Google’s expense. But the buyout is far from certain.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara visited the Great Wall of China on Thursday, allowing him to make the obvious comparison with Israel’s security fence, dubbed by leftists as the “Apartheid Wall. Unlike the Chinese Great Wall, the “wall” in Israel extends less than 10 percent of the total length of the fortification, […]
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is paying $2.05 billion for the remaining 20 percent of IMC International Metalworking Co, otherwise known as Isracar, completing the buyout that began with the giant $4 billion purchase of 80 percent of the company in 2006. “We are delighted to acquire the portion of the company that was retained by […]
Canadian fertilizer giant Potash Corp. has given up on its $15 billion offer to buy Israel Chemicals following strong opposition in Israel, where fears also were raised that Potash would move some local production to Jordan. Potash, which already has a 14 percent stake in Israeli Chemicals, stated that although it maintains that the proposed […]
Bill Clinton’s wealth is more than $55 million. He gets a double dividend as a paid energy lobbyist and being a “friend” of Israel by lobbying against the government’s taxing newly-found gas.
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer launched a new war on the falling shekel-dollar rate Monday and ordered the purchase of $100 million of greenbacks, soon after the rate dropped close to 3.59 shekels to the dollar for the first time in nearly two years. The massive purchase catapulted the rate from the 18-month low […]
Claiming the 2-year budget concept a failure, the country will revert to the 1 year budget system.
The wise men of Chelm have a nifty solution to pay off Palestinian Authority debts for electricity. Use funds collected for the PA or use US aid? Nope. Just make Israelis pay more for electricity.
A billionaire from Turkey, whose relations with Israel have gone from bad to worse until last week’s attempt by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to end the crisis over the May 2010 flotilla clash, is to serve as the chairman of the new the Jerusalem Arbitration Center (JAC), set up to settle disputes between the Palestinian […]
An Israeli-made pill may be on its way to make the world slimmer. The “slim pill” to reduce obesity could go on the market as a medicine, with the help of a major pharmaceutical company.
The United States told Israel the sequester axe fell lightly on Israel and that the cut in military aid will amount to $144 million or 5 percent, instead of the originally planned 8 percent of the $3.1 billion aid program. Finance Ministry sources told the Globes business newspaper that “reliable sources” notified Finance Minister Yuval […]
“Made in Israel” won’t appear anywhere in the new Chinese Qoros sedan, but blue and white brains are under the hood. Israel Corp, which is also behind an electric car, holds 51 percent of Qoros.
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s worth is now around $27 billion, according to Forbes, placing him as the 13th richest billionaire in the world. At the top of the list for the second year in a row is Mexico’s telecom entrepreneur Carlos Slim Helu and his family, whose worth is an astonishing $73 billion. Oracle […]
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz expressed concern Sunday that U.S. financial difficulties would affect Israel's economy. "We are very worried about the financial difficulties in the U.S., and I hope they won't hurt us," he said at the weekly Cabinet meeting. Steinitz's comments came after Obama on Friday night ordered $85 billion in automatic, across-the-board cuts, […]
By JTA
The Canadian Potash fertilizer company is determined to buy Israel’s huge Israel Chemicals Ltd. (despite opposition among lawmakers and employees of the Israeli company. Over 20 Israeli lawmakers met in Jerusalem Wednesday to discuss the issue, with some voicing strong opposition to the deal, according to Bloomberg. "The sale of ICL to a foreign company […]
Gulliver has a one-year license for exploring an area between Sodom and Arad.
Israeli stocks and bounds advanced following elections, “as investors bet Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition would weaken ultra-Orthodox factions as the nation seeks to narrow its budget deficit,” according to a report by Bloomberg business news.
By Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
The Kinneret is expected to rise at a rate of 1 inch per day until the end of the season.
Remember how the New York Times lionized the anti-capitalist Occupy Wall Street vigilantes?
Der Spiegel reported that Israel’s government records an estimated €230 million ($298 million) in produce, toys, textiles and cosmetics exported to the EU yearly from Judea and Samaria – approximately 2% of all its exports to Europe, despite a European Court of Justice ruling in 2010 excluding Jewish products from Judea and Samaria from the EU’s international customs cooperation agreements.
The new directive stops banks from giving mortgages with an LTV of more than 70%, with an exception for first-time buyers, who are allowed mortgages of up to 75% of the value of the apartment. Mortgage customers who buy an apartment for investment will be limited to 50% LTV.
July 24, 2026 
