Israel Update Week Ending March 4th

Israel and Ukraine,Covid and the Economy

It's another week when the Israel Update will be abbreviated. Everything going on in Israel pales compared to the terrible, tragic events in Ukraine. The Israeli news, both print and broadcast, are dominated by Ukraine-Russia War stories. While details on the conduct of the war is central, the Israeli media put a special emphasis on the Israeli/Jewish aspect of the war — including Israel’s efforts to get as many Israelis out of Ukraine as possible, and action to aid the Jewish community.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Bennett spoke to both Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian Dictator Putin. On Thursday, Bennett stated that if the West does not get its act together, there will be an even greater tragedy in Ukraine. This assertion came after Bennett talked to Putin. The question of what Israel's position should be is widely debated. As you can see from my article from today,(For too long, we have concentrated on the first part of Hillel’s statement: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” while ignoring the rest. The time to act is now!) I believe strongly Israel must be unabashedly on the side of Ukraine, despite the risks.

The Israeli government had to provide a $2 billion insurance policy to El Al to secure its flights to Moscow, (after El Al's insurance carrier informed the airline that due to sanctions against Russia, it could no longer provide insurance for flights to Moscow). The government wants those flights to continue, at least for a few more days, to provide an exit ramp for Israelis in Russia.

President Herzog continues his whirlwind round of trips, in advance of his visit to Turkey. This week, Herzog is visiting Cyprus. Israel has taken pains to ensure both Greece and Cyprus (with whom Israel has developed close relations) that thawing of ties with Turkey will not impact Israel's ties with their countries.

German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz paid a one day visit to Israel this week. He met with Israeli leaders.

COVID-19

This week, almost all of Israel's restrictions (except for indoor mask-wearing), have been eliminated. Israel has joined the rest of the world in effectively declaring that Covid is over. But, of course, wishing does not make it so, as Israel is still recording a 10% positivity rate of its Covid tests. The number of cases of daily infections has dropped, but so have the number of tests — which are no longer mandatory in many cases. Thus, the numbers have decreased to 8,000, or so each day. Despite the steady decline, these numbers are way too high to claim the pandemic over.

ECONOMY

Israeli arms manufacturers are likely to be one of the primary beneficiaries of accelerated European defense spending. The big three Israeli defense firms: Elbit, Rafael, and Israeli Aircraft Industries, all have extensive sales networks in Europe, and expect a substantial increase in orders for their products — ranging from smart munitions, short-range missiles, as well as, RPVs.

The average Israeli wage rose 7% in 2021. It now stands are NIS 12,142. Keep in mind this is the average and not the median, and therefore, the rate can be affected by a significant increase in income of the highest wage earners.

Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot posted record profits of NIS 3.19 billion for 2021, doubling its profit from 2000. 

Cardinal Ops, which developed a platform to automatically control all of a company's cyber defenses, has raised $17.5 million. The company has now raised a total of $24 million.  

Square, developer of high-performance, single-use endoscopes, has raised $15 million in financing for the soft launch of its disruptive single-use ENT endoscope and further R&D to expand potential use cases for other indications. The soft launch is planned following FDA clearance, expected in the third quarter of 2022.