Bank of Israel Restricts Mortgages Severely, Looking to Avert Future Real Estate Crises
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.
Debt Ridden NY Times Squeezing Writers, Golden Parachuting CEOs
Remember how the New York Times lionized the anti-capitalist Occupy Wall Street vigilantes?
22 European NGOs Seeking Ban on Trade with Israeli Settlers
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.
Israel’s Storm: Extreme Rainfalls, More than $250 Mil. in Damages
The Kinneret is expected to rise at a rate of 1 inch per day until the end of the season.
Israeli Stocks and Bonds Rise Post-Elections
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.
Uranium in the Negev?
Gulliver has a one-year license for exploring an area between Sodom and Arad.
Potash Corp. Determined to Gobble Up Israel’s Giant Chemical Firm
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...
Sequestration Worries Israel
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...
Bloomberg Rated as World’s 13th Richest Billionaire
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...
Israeli Input Drives New Chinese Car
“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.
Sequester Cuts Military Aid to Israel by Small Amount
The United States told Israel the sequester axe fell lightly on Israel and that the cut in military aid will amount to $144 million...
Israel Start-Up’s Anti-Obesity Pill Set to Go Big Time
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.
Turkish Billionaire to Head Israel-PA Business Arbitration Panel
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...
Israelis May Off PA Debts by Paying More for Electricity
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.
Biannual Budget Cancelled
Claiming the 2-year budget concept a failure, the country will revert to the 1 year budget system.
Fischer Launches New War on Shekel-Dollar Rate
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...
Bill Clinton Tried to Block Israel’s Taxing Newly-Found Gas
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.
Potash Corp. Gives Up on Bid to Buy Out Israel Chemicals
Canadian fertilizer giant Potash Corp. has given up on its $15 billion offer to buy Israel Chemicals following strong opposition in Israel, where fears...
Warren Buffet Buys Out Israeli Firm for $2 Billion
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...
Netanyahu Views Chinese Wall ‘Security Fence’
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara visited the Great Wall of China on Thursday, allowing him to make the obvious comparison with...
Facebook Running after Waze to Stare Down Google
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.
Blue and White, All the Waze
Waze and Facebook have reached an impasse in their negotiations, but not over whether Facebook will buy Waze for 700 million dollars, or a...
Fischer Cuts Interest Rate and Says Bank to Buy 2 Billion Dollars
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer announced on Monday a surprise cut the prime interest rate as part of his battle to fight the...
Plague of Locusts Returns to Israel for Shavuot
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.
More Natural Gas Found
Israel has (more) gas. Baruch Hashem. But who should profit?
Natural Gas Magnate Says Gov’t Can Pocket Billions from Exports
The government can expect to rake in billions of dollars from natural gas exports in the next 20 years, claimed Yitzchak Tshuva, controlling shareholder...
Dizzy Dollar Dumps the Shekel
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...
Waze. Outsmarting Google and Facebook. Together.
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,...
Is Daniel Werfel Jewish?
Readers are already asking us if newly appointed acting commissioner of the IRS, Daniel Werfel is a Jew.
‘Better Place’ Electric Car Goes Belly Up
The electric car company Better Place, which had pledged to erect electric car charging stations throughout Israel, filed for bankruptcy in an Israeli court...