Articles by July, 2021

The Ben & Jerrys affair, the ice cream maker that announced Monday that it will not sell its products in the territories, caused a great deal of controversy throughout Israeli politics. However, the company's original decision was even more decisive. According to an NBC report, the intervention of Unilever, the giant corporation owned by Ben & Jerrys, softened the statement. Yesterday, the company announced that it would stop selling ice cream in the occupied territories, and that it would not renew its franchise agreement, under which an Israeli company manufactured the ice cream at a...

The American company Rapid 7 announced Monday the acquisition of the Israeli cyber intelligence company IntSights. The amount of the transaction will be close to $ 400 million and includes a component of the purchase of shares, cash existing in the company's coffers and an amount for employee retention. Following the acquisition, Insights is expected to become the development center of Rapid 7, in Israel. Insights was established in 2015 by Guy Nitzan (CEO), Gal Ben David (CTO) and Alon Arbetz (Director of the Development Center), all three graduates of various technology units in the IDF....

The Minister of Finance, Avigdor Lieberman, and the Minister of Agriculture, Oded Forer, are promoting a plan to reduce tariffs on fruit, vegetables and eggs, with the aim of opening up the market to imports. The egg industry is currently planned and consumer prices are monitored by the state. There are imports of fruits and vegetables, which usually leads to rising prices. Tomatoes occasionally have duty-free imports to balance market prices when they are high. According to farmers, opening the market to duty-free imports will hurt agriculture in Israel - the heads of the regional councils...

The Israeli company PandoLogic, which assists large companies in recruiting employees through artificial intelligence, is being sold to the American company Veritone for $ 150 million in cash and shares, the American company announced. Veriton, based in Costa Mesa, California, is developing the first artificial intelligence operating system, and the acquisition will allow it to expand into the field of manpower and recruitment. The deal consists of $ 50 million in cash, $ 35 million in Veriton shares, and $ 65 million in cash and shares - another amount that depends on the company's...

The International Fund for Compensation from Oil Pollution has approved the Ministry of Environmental Protection's request for compensation for the extensive tar pollution that hit the shores of Israel in February. All member states of the Fund's Board of Directors unanimously supported the proposal of the Fund's Director and the Secretariat to approve compensation payments to Israel for the damage to the beaches. Israel, which has been a member of the fund since 2006, estimated the direct expenses as a result of the pollution at NIS 50 million, with the next step being the establishment of...

Data released by the Ministry of Health shows that yesterday 1,430 people were diagnosed as positive for Corona. Of the approximately 87,000 corona tests conducted yesterday - 1.66% were interpreted as positive. From midnight on Friday until the end of Shabbat, another 670 Corona carriers were diagnosed in Israel. Over the weekend there was an increase in the number of critically ill patients, and it now stands at 89, of which 18 are connected to respirators. Prof. Eran Segal, component of the Weizmann Institute's corona prediction model, who revealed some of the morbidity data as early as...

Disabled people's organizations have renewed their protest for rights and budgets and are demonstrating in a variety of centers across the country. According to the organizations, the protest is renewed because the government and the Ministry of Finance are not implementing the Disability Benefit Increase Act passed in February 2018, because no state budget has been passed for about two years. The demonstrators are expected to block major roads and demonstrate in front of government ministries. A statement issued by the disabled people's organizations stated that "the demonstrations will...

The deficit in the state budget will amount to 4.1% in 2022, double the target set by the government before the corona crisis, which stood at 2%. Without government spending on the corona, the deficit would amount to only 3.7%. This summer the budget deficit is still 7% and therefore it is already a huge improvement in the finance forecast that will be presented to the government this coming Sunday. Also, growth this year will stand at 5.1% and in 2022 at 4.7%. This is according to data from the "numerator" published by the Ministry of Finance, which includes all the expenses and revenues...

The Israeli payment company Pioneer (Payoneer) was fined $ 1.4 million by the US Treasury Department for violating 2,260 different sanctions in a large number of countries, including Iran and Syria. Other countries include Ukraine, Sudan and violations of sanctions against individuals who are defined as barriers to money transfers by US authorities. According to the Ministry of Finance report between 2018-2013, Pioneer processed 2,241 payments to entities located in the Crimea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria as well as 19 violations of sanctions by individuals who are blocked by the US...

The Minister of Finance, Avigdor Lieberman, has decided to increase the income supplement for seniors. The benefit will increase by almost NIS 500 per person. The Ministry of Finance says that the move means that exercising the rights to receive income supplementation will allow the elderly to receive income above the poverty line. Income supplement is paid to adults whose income is low, usually without a pension, and who are mainly based on an old-age pension. The average benefit today is NIS 3,230 per person per month, and will now increase to at least NIS 3,710 per month. This amount is...