Israel Update Week Ending March 18
Putin's War and Israel, Laser Defense, Housing Cost Skyrocket
Once again, this was a week when Ukraine dominated the news, and indeed dominated my thoughts. What is happening in Ukraine undoubtedly makes much of the news in Israel seem unimportant — so once again, I apologize for the abbreviated nature of this week's update.
PUTIN’S WAR & ISRAEL
The issue of Putin’s war has raised several domestic political issues here — First and foremost, regarding the refugees. Under Ayelet Shaked, the Ministry of Interior was very stringent, at first. Their initial policy made it difficult for a number of Ukrainian refugees to enter. This was the Ministry’s chosen path, even though Israel has a “no-visa required” agreement with Ukraine, which translates into permission granted any Ukrainian who wishes to visit. However, After the TV news showed a group of refugees stuck in Ben Gurion airport, public outcry was so strong that Shaked ordered anyone whose status had not yet been determined to be moved to a hotel.
At the same time, a policy was announced that beyond the 2,000 refugees Israel had already agreed to accept, anyone with a relative already in Israel would be granted entry. As of the moment, the practical implementation of this policy is still not clear.
In addition, questions surround Prime Minister Bennett’s role as an intermediary between Putin and Zelensky on one hand, and the failure of Israel to strongly condemn the Russian actions, on the other. My view is evident, from my latest Newsweek article — or the stronger version posted on my website (the piece before my editor made changes). Israel needs to take a side here, and in this case, it is clear who is evil, and who is not.
Foreign Minister Lapid was in Europe this past week, for visits to several of the countries receiving refugees from Ukraine— including, Romania and Slovakia. Thankfully, Israel is finally about to implement its plan to build and operate a field hospital in Ukraine.
DEFENSE
This week, information widely circulated regarding Israel’s attack on an Iranian base for drones at the end of last year. According to reports, Israel bombarded the base with its fleet of attack drones, and allegedly destroyed many Iranian drones. If these reports are correct, they represent an apparent intensification in what has been described as “the war between the wars.”
On Thursday, the Ministry of Defense unveiled Israel’s groundbreaking laser defense system. These electric-powered lasers can destroy almost all forms of projectiles from 10 Km away. Since it is powered by electricity, there is no need to recharge the batteries. The Defense Ministry officially ordered its first units of this game-changing device this week. The new lasers will be used initially on the Gaza border, as an additional layer in Israel’s multilayered protective system. While the first units are all ground-based, work is underway to finalize the development of a system that will be airborne. It is expected that the first (land-based) systems will be operational in 2-3 years.
COVID-19
Israel’s new daily infection numbers never fell off, as infection numbers decreased in a number of other places. Daily infections are once again on the rise, with nearly 8,000 cases yesterday. The positive rate from testing also remains high; reported at over 12% on Thursday. While some Israelis continue to follow the law in terms of indoor mask-wearing, many do not, because the general sense is that the pandemic has ended. Unfortunately, despite our wish for the virus to just go away, it appears to have other ideas.
ECONOMY
The consumer price index increased by 0.9% in February, bringing the full-year inflation to a rate of 3.5%. For the first time in nearly a decade, Israel has inflation. The most significant increase came in the housing sector; with housing prices increasing by 2.1% in January, bringing the full-year rise to 11%.
When it comes to housing prices, the government is considering a radical idea to change how it sells land for buildings. Instead of selling land to the highest bidder, the government would sell land to the builder who guarantees the lowest consumer price for newly built apartments. A good idea that might work. If well implemented, this move would truly bring down costs.
In terms of consumer pricing, yesterday, the Treasury Department announced its long-stalled plan to allow duty-free import of agricultural products, in the hopes of bringing down food prices. This is another governmental step that could aid consumers.
Government-owned, Israel Aircraft industries had an excellent year. Its sales rose to $4.5 billion, its highest revenue from sales ever. Profits were $148 million. Its backorders have been increased to $13.4 billion. All of this growth happened before the impact of the Ukraine War has been felt. That Ukranian war will, without question, accelerate sales in the coming months for all of Israel’s defense companies.
Alt seafood pioneer, Plantish, which uses plant proteins to create premium, whole-cut fish, has raised $12.45 million in seed funding, the largest seed round to date in the burgeoning alternative seafood market. The round was led by State Of Mind Ventures, with participation from Pitango Health Tech, Unovis Capital, TechAviv Founder Partners, SmartAgro, E2JDJ, Alumni Ventures, and OurCrowd. The company had previously raised $2 million in pre-seed funding in June 2021, from TechAviv Founder Partners, a venture fund backed by top industry veterans, and angel investors including Chef José Andrés, and Nuseir Yassin from Nas Daily.
“Cracking whole-cut seafood is the next big opportunity in our quest for impact and sustainability,” said Merav Rotem Naaman, General Partner at State Of Mind Ventures. “When we met the world-class team at Plantish, we knew that they had the passion, vision, and capability to pull off the seemingly impossible task of producing a true upgrade to fish.”