Articles

Senior officials in the high-tech industry called on the future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening not to allow the enactment of the laws discussed in the last days in the Knesset, due to its "devastating" consequences for the economy and the high-tech industry in particular. According to them, "the undermining of confidence in the Israeli justice system and, as a result, in Israeli democracy, may discourage the investors who drive the growth of the industry." "Legal stability is a necessary condition for international investors and helps them invest in certain...

The slowdown in the economy has also reached the number of vacancies which continues to decrease and with it, the demand for high-tech people also drops. The number of vacancies decreased from 144,700 in October to 141,200 in November (seasonally adjusted data). This is a decrease of nearly 10,000 jobs from the record of 151,400 last April. Particularly affected was the demand for software engineers (programmers), which fell by 45% from last March

A slowdown in the pace of residential construction starts. According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, in the third quarter of 2022 (July to September), the construction of 14,675 apartments began. This is a decrease of about 5% compared to the corresponding quarter in 2021 when the construction of 15,482 apartments began. Compared to the second quarter of 2022 when the construction of 17,293 apartments began, this is already a 15% drop in the rate of construction starts. In fact, the figures for the third quarter of 2022 are the lowest recorded since September 2021

Six years after the police investigation was opened against Benny Steinmetz and businessmen Avi Lev-Ran and Michal Noy on suspicion of bribing senior government officials in Guinea in exchange for mining rights worth billions of dollars, it ends today with a comprehensive settlement - on the criminal and tax levels. According to the overall settlement, the prosecutor's office will not file an indictment against the three, in exchange for a civil forfeiture of NIS 23 million from Lev-Ran, Noy and another company. Steinmetz's share of the settlement will amount to NIS 17 million.

After a long and tedious process, which included going through and debating every comma and line of the 4,155-page document, the US House of Representatives joined the Senate in approving next year's US budget of $1.7 trillion on Friday. Members of Congress entered a frantic last-minute race to pass the budget Before Christmas, while the storm winds are raging outside and across the US the lowest temperatures have been recorded in years

Israel is in 4th place on the "Economist" list of successful economies in 2022 In weighing the indicators of growth, inflation, stock performance, and government debt, Israel leads the list of the 34 richest countries, alongside other surprising winners - Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Germany, despite its political stability, was ranked particularly low. In financial terms, the past year has been bad for almost everyone. Inflation of 10% in the rich world has eaten away at household incomes. Investors lost a lot when stock markets fell by an average of 20%. However, focusing on the...

Israeli exports are expected to break a record this year and cross a threshold of 160 billion dollars - according to a forecast published by the Ministry of Economy. If the forecasts come true, the rate of increase in exports will be higher than 10% compared to 2021, which also recorded a record in Israeli exports. The Ministry of Economy says that the forecast for Israeli exports of $160 billion is conservative and that if the rate of growth in exports in the fourth quarter of this year is similar to the growth in exports in the first three quarters of 2022, it is possible that the volume...

Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron and Bank Supervisor Yair Avidan granted a bank license and permits to control the bank - which will be called Ash Israel Bank. Bank entrepreneurs Yuval Aloni, Nir Tsuk, Alex Liberant and Alon Shay received the permit. Prof. Shmuel Hauser, former head of the Israel Securities Authority, will serve as chairman of the bank. This is the second license given to a new bank in the system within a period of three years. The receipt of the control permits and the conditional bank license will allow the entrepreneurs to move forward and complete the mechanical,...

The fourth lottery of the "Discount Apartment" program, which was promoted by outgoing Minister of Construction and Housing Ze'ev Elkin, is underway - just before the government's swearing-in, probably tomorrow. According to a report by the Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Israel Lands Authority, approximately 6,000 discounted housing units will be raffled in 13 localities: Jerusalem, Ashdod, Haifa, Yehud-Monson, Ramla, Kadima-Zoran, Ofakim, Sderot, Nahariya, Nof HaGilil, Elkana, Horns of Samaria and Immanuel

The business sector is not ready to accept the bizarre legislative initiatives of the forming coalition and to apply discrimination to the citizens of Israel under the protection of the law. Discount Bank will not grant credit to businesses and entities that discriminate against customers on the basis of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation - this is what the bank's board of directors stated