Articles by November, 2020

On Monday, the Knesset committee unanimously approved the bill initiated by the committee's chairman, MK Eitan Ginzburg (blue and white), according to which the salaries of Knesset members will be frozen in 2021. The purpose of the bill is to prevent the salary of Knesset members from being updated by approx. NIS 5,000 gross per month. The Knesset will save about NIS 6 million as a result of the freezing of the salaries of the incumbent MKs, when this amount does not include the expected savings due to the freezing of the update on the benefits of former Knesset members. Knesset Member...

Despite the corona crisis, the closure and the High holidays, the number of transactions in September 2020 was among the highest recorded in September in the last twenty years, both in terms of total transactions and those made in the free market only. This is according to data from th chief economist at the Ministry of Finance. The numbers indicate that last September 9,600 apartments were purchased (including price-per-tenant apartments), unchanged from September 2019 and a decrease of 11% compared to the high level of transactions recorded in the previous month. These are particularly...

"If the vaccine for Corona is available in Israel in the middle of 2021 - growth in Israel in the coming year will be relatively positive, at a rate of 4.8%. But in a continuing morbidity scenario - growth will reach only 2.2%, which is close to zero per capita growth. This first forecast, since yesterday's announcement by Pfizer about the success of its vaccine trial for Corona, was made today (Tuesday) by the chief economist at the Ministry of Finance, Shira Greenberg. This is in the context of presenting the macroeconomic situation of Israel, against the background of the corona crisis,...

The opening of IKEA branches on Wednesday is questionable: Hours after the Swedish furniture chain announced yesterday that it would open all branches today, the Ministry of Health announced that it would not allow it. 'The Ministry of Health did not give permission for the shops to open. The ministry's position is that a furniture store, including IKEA, is not a place whose main business is selling essential products for home maintenance, "the ministry said. In the IKEA environment, it is said that the Ministry of Health does not have the authority to determine this, and the chain's...

American Snap, the parent company of the social network Snapchat, acquires the Israeli company Voca.ai. The purchase amount of Voca is about $ 70 million, having so far raised only $ 6 million. Its investors include the strategic investment group of American Express, Lool Ventures, Flint Capital and Group11. The company employs about 35 people who will join Snap. Voca was founded in 2017 by Dr. Alan Becker, and Einav Itamar. Its most recent significant acquisition was in 2019, when it invested in the investment fund of the American credit card giant American Express. Mastercard.

A 68% jump in the number of new dwellings sold in September this year, which stood at 3,459 compared to 2,050 sold last September; This emerges from data from the annoying bureau of statistics published on Thursday. According to the data in total in the third quarter of 2020 (July-September 2020), 10,140 new apartments were sold - a jump of about 19% compared to the corresponding quarter last year, in which 8,467 new apartments were sold. The CBS data is similar to the analysis of the chief economist at the Ministry of Finance, Shira Greenberg, published on Sunday. According to Greenberg,...

The reproduction number R, the way of rating coronavirus or any disease's ability to spread, which is the essential figure for determining the following reliefs, reached 1 Friday for the first time since leaving the quarantine. The last time this level of R was recorded was at the end of September. Data from the Ministry of Health show that the overall R is 1.0. The figure in general society is 0.94, among the ultra-Orthodox - 0.92, while among Arabs it is higher - 1.07. According to the outline of the head of public health services at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sharon Elrai Price, the...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Friday afternoon in the Kirya in Tel Aviv the completion of the deal with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to supply vaccines against Corona to Israel. The agreement relates to the purchase of eight million portions to be given to four million Israelis - two portions per person. Netanyahu also said that he was working to obtain vaccines for all citizens and noted that he was trying to promote Israel as a global leader. However, he clarified that the vaccines have not yet been approved by the US and Israeli...

The Labor and Welfare Committee today (Sunday) approved for the second and third reading the outline proposed by the committee's chairman, MK Haim Katz,for the government to finance most of the isolation days of the workers. According to the outline, workers will bear the cost of only one day and will be deducted up to four sick days. The state will reimburse the employer for 75% of the cost of isolation for employers up to 20 workers, and 50% of the cost for the rest. The indemnity will be provided through the National Insurance Institute

The Corona Cabinet on Monday approved the return of fifth, sixth- and eleventh-twelfth-grade students in green and yellow localities to school, and the immediate opening of open shopping centers in green localities. According to the cabinet decision, students in grades 5-6 will return to classes next Tuesday (November 24), while students in grades 11-12 will return on Tuesday in the following week (December 1). In addition, the "Green Tourism Islands" program has been approved. At the beginning of the discussion, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ganz presented a draft...