Articles

The mortgage market continues to boil: Bank of Israel data show that the volume of new mortgages taken out in February was NIS 7.3 billion, a jump of 19% compared to February last year, and of 11% compared to the average in the last 12 months. Similar to January, the average mortgage amount reached NIS 800,000 in February. The banking system notes that the strong data are due to high demand, for fear of continued price increases, and the lack of a plan to address the supply in the housing market on the horizon. In addition, economic uncertainty diminished with the gradual return to...

Corona morbidity is declining - and more relief is underway: The government approved tonight (Friday), shortly before Shabbat, new aviation regulations that will allow vaccinated or recovering patients exposed to Corona patients to board flights, and the obligation to measure temperature at terminal entry and boarding will be abolished. Ministers have confirmed that the new regulations will be in force until April 8. In light of the approval to bring only 3,000 Israelis into Israel daily, in an approved outline it was decided to impose on the Director General of the Ministry of...

A virtual meeting of high-tech experts from the US and Europe who are planning to return to Israel was held at the initiative of the Innovation Authority as part of the launch of the Back2Tech program to return Israelis to Israel and join high-tech companies, development centers and leading startups. The program is designed to allow returnees to pre-close their future workplace in the country, and even start working there remotely thus making the transition smooth and comfortable. At the meeting, Efrat Dagan and Heli Nachman, who previously lived in California and spoke about their...

The households of the Arabs in Israel are very vulnerable in relation to the households of the Jews, and accordingly suffered more severe damage during the Corona period, according to a report published by the Bank of Israel. The main reasons for this are low income and savings and lack of adequate infrastructure. The report noted that even before the corona, the Arab household was vulnerable: its average monthly income in 2018 was NIS 12,000 on average, compared with 18,000 in a Jewish household - a gap of 32%. 45% of Arab households are below the poverty level. Only in 29% of Arab...

The holes in Israel's social security network widened even before the corona crisis, according to data from the April edition of the publication "Social Security in the World" in the National Insurance Institute. According to the document, public welfare expenditure in Israel in 2019 was among the lowest in the OECD and stood at 16.3% of gross national product (GDP). This figure places Israel in 30th place out of 37 countries. 17% of GDP in 2017. In the Corona crisis itself, public spending increased at a rate similar to the OECD average, but it cannot be concluded that Israel has bridged...

A serological test research done for Sheba Hospital staff who received the Pfizer vaccine revealed a significant decrease in their share of blood antibody levels, a few months after receiving the second vaccine. It is now being investigated whether other measures in the blood may indicate that the vaccines are still efficient. The research team led by Professor Gili Regev-Yohai is examining whether the effectiveness of the vaccine is declining. The hospital said "we are not sure this decline has any significance". One of the study participants reported that two weeks after the second...

The Bank of Israel today publishes the annual report for 2020, which includes an extensive review of the effects of the corona on the economy. The bottom line, the report notes, is that there are considerable differences between sectors in the economy and society. Weaknesses of the socio-economic safety net and gaps between sectors. According to the report, the approval of the state budget for 2021 is essential to set priorities and implement plans to accelerate growth, especially in the areas of human capital and investment in public transport, communications, energy and environmental...