Good News, Israel
Compliments of Anglo Raanana Real Estate
· National anthems have become a controversial issue in a number of countries. In France, far-right politicians accused immigrant athletes of not knowing how to sing the anthem. During the last U.S. presidential campaign, President Barack Obama no less, forgot to put his hand where his heart is while the “Star-Spangled Banner” played. And in Israel, one MK, nameless, (Labor) attacked another MK also nameless and shall ever remain so (Hadash), claiming he/she does not know “Hatikva.” But the rest of our citizens do far better. When asked what they think of when hearing the anthem, 91% said they think about the Jewish people or that “the song belongs to all of us” and 79% reported they feel patriotism and pride as indeed they do when seeing the flag. Please read on
· It is difficult to think of a more symbolic moment in Israeli sports, not only in this decade, but in the country’s 61 years of independence: Draped in the Israeli flag, and anybody who saw it will never forget it, with the 2002 European Championship gold medal around his neck, pole vaulter, Alex Averbukh, and nobody would dispute that he was one of our greatest ever, wept uncontrollably while the national anthem played at the Munich Olympic Stadium, almost 30 years to the day that 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympic Games. Perhaps that’s what it all means.
· The demand for new apartments in October 2009 totaled about 2,490 units – a 19% rise compared to October 2008, according to figures compiled by the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Housing and Construction Ministry. Time to buy, folks.
· Some 25 new immigrants from five South American countries accompanied President Shimon Peres on his return to Israel. The olim from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay left Sao Paulo, Brazil, with Peres following his weeklong visit to Argentina and Brazil [He’s been around to a lot of other places since then but we’re just having a little difficulty keeping pace]. They were scheduled to arrive on the Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport. In 2009, about 1,200 new immigrants from Latin America will make aliyah to Israel under the auspices of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the agency said and we say; May the tribe increase.
· Consumers racked up 9.1% more on their credit cards between August and October than they did in the three preceding months, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced this week. This follows a 9.2% increase between May and July. The figures include an increase in goods and services purchases, as well as in food and drink bought. Israelis are earning more, are developing greater confidence in the future of our overall situation and are pumping more money back into the economy and what could be better news than that?
· We at GN believe that fur coats look absolutely beautiful…but only when they’re worn by their original owners and we are not, repeat not, bunny-huggers. Now it seems that the vast majority of Israelis agree with us. Eighty-six percent of Israelis believe killing animals for their fur is immoral, according to a recent poll. The survey further showed that 79% of Israelis support a bill that prohibits the fur industry in its entirety, including all importation, production and sales in Israel. Hedad [the Hebrew equivalent of Bravo]! The furriers are not so fond of us but the furry creatures absolutely adore every single one of the eighty-six percent.
· Israel is the most attractive country in the Middle East, and one of the best in the world for venture capital and private equity investment and a lot of other things too, we might add, according to a new survey. Israel comfortably beat regional competitors United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in The Global Venture Capital and Private Equity Country Attractiveness Index, which was published Monday by global accountants Ernst & Young. The index measures a country’s attractiveness to outside investors based on its social, cultural and economic environment, taxation, governance and business infrastructure. Israel showed a major improvement in taxation since the first survey four years ago and also scored high marks for fostering entrepreneurial opportunities.
· One doesn’t discuss fertilizers in company, it just doesn’t seem polite but we thought we’d let you know that ICL [Israel Chemicals and they produce fertilizers] posted revenues of $1.35 billion for the third quarter, slightly beating analysts’ consensus.
· Solaria, will install two solar energy systems on a 1,200-square meter roof at a commercial center at a gas station in Carmiel, and a third system on a 1,000-square meter roof at a commercial center at a gas station in Migdal Ha’Emek. The electricity provided will be sufficient for the entire centers with a little left over and if that isn’t GN, we don’t know what is!
· Vegetarian meat substitute products are in, NIS 881 million in, in fact, thanks to 70% growth in exports, in August and November 2008, respectively. Finland, Norway, Germany and the US all contributed to Osem’s success in the field.
· Is it a bird, is it a plane…? No, it’s a Technion hovercraft that can do all sorts of clever things. Like? Like flying into a building through a window, taking photographs, relaying the pictures to base in real time, detect and avoid barriers, flying right out again and using a three dimensional map, preserving altitude and returning to base with little or no help from its ‘handlers’. Another step towards humanpower-free warfare. And all designed and executed by a team of super brained boffins from our very own Technion!
· Bank Hapoalim will lend Shaul Elovitch NIS 3.9 billion to acquire the controlling interest in Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. The parties are due to sign the agreement next week. NIS 3.9 billion!? $1.033 Billion or near enough as makes no difference!? Now that’s a whole lot of greenbacks. His credit must be really good the last time we wanted to borrow NIS 1000 … Oh well never mind!
· A NIS 60 million water purifier is about to be built that will cleanse the polluted lower waters of the Jordan, returning them to their pristine state and allowing for a large tourist project containing a number of interesting sites including prehistoric villages inhabited by wanderers from Africa and an ancient flour mill. The two sides of the river are due to remain undeveloped, and tourist facilities including holiday villages will be set up in neighboring communities
· Nochi Dankner-controlled Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. have increased the size of its bond issue in response to heavy demand from institutional investors. Bearing 5.7% annual interest Clal Industries obtained heavy orders for NIS 1 billion notes in the institutional stage of the bond offering yesterday. The company originally planned to raise NIS 150 million in this stage, and upped the amount to NIS 205 million in response to the demand. The company plans to raise NIS 250 million altogether and it doesn’t look as if they’re going to have any difficulty doing it either. And we can’t think of a better way to end this weeks GN.
Israelis should be proud.
They have an amazing country.
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Yes, and they have done so against tremendous obstacles and being constantly under seige and having no natural resources.
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IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF 2009 ISRAEL HAS ACCOMPLISHED THE FOLLOWING:
1. Scientists in Israel, found that the brackish water, drilled from underground desert aquifers, hundreds of feet
deep, could be used to raise warm-water fish. The geothermal water, less than one-tenth as saline as sea water,
free of pollutants, and a toasty 98 degrees on average, proves an ideal environment.
2. Israeli-developed designer-eyeglasses, promise mobile phone and iPod users, a personalized, high-tech video
display.
Available to US consumers next year, Lumus-Optical’s lightweight and fashionable video eyeglasses, feature a large transparent screen, floating in front of the viewer’s face that projects their choice of movie, TV show, or video Game.
3. When Stephen Hawkins visited Israel recently, he shared his wisdom with scientists, students, and even the Prime Minister. But the world’s most renown victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, learned something, due to the Israeli Association for ALS’ advanced work in both embryonic and adult stem cell research, as
well as its proven track record with neurodegenerative diseases. The Israeli research community is well on its way, to finding a treatment for this fatal disease, which affects 30,000 Americans.
4. Israeli start-up, Veterix, has developed an innovative new electronic capsule that sits in the stomach of a cow,
sheep, or goat, sending out real-time information on the health of the herd, to the farmer via Email or cell phone.
The e-capsule, which also sends out alerts if animals are distressed, injured, or lost, is now being tested on a herd
of cows, in the hopes that the device will lead to tastier and healthier meat and milk supplies.
5. The millions of Skype users worldwide will soon have access to the newly developed KishKish lie-detector. This
free internet service, based on voice stress analysis (a technique, commonly used in criminal investigations), will be
able to measure just how truthful that person on the other end of the line, really is.
6. Beating cardiac tissue has been created in a lab from human embryonic stem cells by researchers at the (Bruce- Baruch) Rappaport Medical Faculty and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s biomedical Engineering faculty.
The work of Dr. Shulamit Levenberg and Prof. Lior Gepstein, has also led to the creation of tiny blood vessels within
the tissue, making possible its implantation in a human heart.
7. Israel ‘s Magal Security Systems, is a worldwide leader in computerized security systems, with products used in
more than 70 countries around the world, protecting anything from national borders, to nuclear facilities, refineries,
and airports.
The company’s latest Product, DreamBox, a state-of-the-art security system that includes Intelligent video, audio and sensor management, is now being used by a major water authority on the US east coast to safeguard the utility’s sites.
8. It is common knowledge that dogs have better night vision than humans and a vastly superior sense of smell and hearing. Israel ‘s Bio-Sense Technologies, recently delved further, and electronically analyzed 350 different barks. Finding that dogs of all breeds and sizes, bark the same alarm when they sense a threat, the firm has designed the dog bark-reader, a sensor that can pick up a dog’s alarm bark, and alert the human operators. This is just one of a batch of innovative security systems to emerge from Israel , which Forbes calls ‘the go-to country for anti-terrorism technologies.’
9. Israeli company, BioControl Medical, sold its first electrical stimulator to treat urinary incontinence to a USA company
for $50 Million. Now, it is working on CardioFit, which uses electrical nerve stimulation to treat congestive heart failure.
With nearly five million Americans presently affected by heart failure, and more than 400,000 new cases diagnosed yearly, the CardioFit is already generating a great deal of excitement as the first device with the potential to halt this deadly disease.
10. One year after Norway ‘s Socialist Left Party launched its boycott of Israel campaign, the importing of Israeli goods has increased by 15%, the strongest increase in many years, Statistics Norway reports.
But they have two prominent attributes: extraordinary intelligence and total absence of common sense.
We know we are in trouble when the latter dominates the former. They say it’s a reversible syndrome.
After years of a brain drain from the region, and despite the lack of a peace settlement, by the end of this month about 4,000 North American Jews will have immigrated to Israel this year, an increase of 33% over 2008 and the most in one year since 1973, according to Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that oversees and assists with immigration to Israel from North America.
Immigrants to Israel often have a longstanding desire to move, but the economic crisis has pushed them to make the jump this year, said Danny Oberman, executive vice president of Israel operations for Nefesh B’Nefesh. “The economy has a lot to do with it,” Mr. Oberman said.
…Israel’s economy, fueled mainly by the software, biomedical, weapons-manufacturing and diamond sectors, has grown at least 4% a year from 2004 to 2008. And Israel has a lower unemployment rate than the U.S., at 7.8%, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, next to 10.2% in October in the U.S. The Bank of Israel has raised interest rates twice since August, to its current level of 1%, at a time when banks around the world are cutting rates or leaving them low.
…In Israel, North American immigrants are making significant contributions to the economy, according to a recent study by consulting firm Deloitte Information Technologies Israel Ltd. U.S. immigrants who came between 2002 and 2008 have contributed directly 989 million shekels ($262 million) to the Israeli economy, the study said.
This is of course great news, that at a time that the world economy is suffering, Israel is available as a source of employment and financial security.
Payback Time?
Israel to India: Buy F-16s, not Swedish Gripen fighter jets
Over the past year, Israel has advised India to purchase American F-16 fighter jets rather than Swedish-made Gripen warplanes.
The F-16 has been in direct competition with the JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft and India has been mulling over which plane to purchase for
the Indian Air Force (IAI).
Israel defense officials advised their Indian counterparts to purchase the F16s, telling them that the US warplane performed better and was better priced.
Daled Amos
So they are rewarding the anti-Semite Obama, who makes the Swedes look like Jackie Mason.
Well it’s between Sweden, America and Russia. At least there are Americans who support us and I know of no Swede. Then we have deals with Lockheed Martin where we produce here 20% of all parts and components for all F-16′s. All of our weapons systems and avionics that we produce here is designed for F-16 and F-15′s. If India goes American we have off the shelf systems to sell them and it keeps our Industries busy and empolyment up.
So screw two out of three enemies and also profit. I think a smart move if it works.
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