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☆ Israel's next finance minister brings religion to the front of economic strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Israel's incoming finance minister has said his economic strategy will be infused with religious beliefs laid out in the Torah, predicting that this would help the country prosper. Bezalel Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party, said that as finance minister he would delve deep into the inner workings of the economy. Smotrich was tapped by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to serve as finance minister for two years. At the same time, only about half of ultra-Orthodox men work, according to government data. Israel's central bank has said this is a drain on the economy and has recommended incentives to draw more ultra-Orthodox men into the workforce.

☆ Israel's NewMed signs deal in Morocco for natgas exploration
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

JERUSALEM, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Israel's NewMed Energy (NWMDp.TA) said on Tuesday it signed a deal with Morocco's energy and mining ministry and Adarco Energy to explore for and produce natural gas in the Moroccan offshore license Boujdour Atlantique. NewMed and Adarco will each have a 37.5% stake in the license partnership, NewMed said. The Moroccan ministry will hold the remaining 25%. Reporting by Ari RabinovitchOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israel cancels customs duties on South Korean industrial imports
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

JERUSALEM, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Israel's finance minister on Sunday signed an order to eliminate customs duties on agricultural and industrial imports from South Korea, including on cars, as a new free trade agreement between the countries took effect. Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman made the change, which will result in the end of a 7% customs duty imposed on South Korean auto imports and a 12% customs duty on air conditioners, after the free trade agreement was ratified in March, according to Israel's Tax Authority. Israel, it said, will lose as much as 225 million shekels ($66 million) a year in tax revenue as a result of the customs reduction. ($1 = 3.3955 shekels)Reporting by Steven Scheer Editing by Ari RabinovitchOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israeli finance panel chief suggests law to shield mortgages from rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File PhotoJERUSALEM, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The head of the Israeli parliament's powerful finance committee on Monday criticized a wave of central bank interest hikes and said he would propose legislation to minimise their impact on mortgage holders. In a bid to fight rising inflation, the Bank of Israel last week raised its benchmark interest rate (ILINR=ECI) by a half-point to an 11-year high of 3.25%. It was the sixth increase in an aggressive monetary tightening cycle that has taken the rate from 0.1% in April. Gafni said his committee, which controls the government's purse strings, would not interfere in monetary policy decisions by Israel's independent central bank. Speaking to the committee, Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron defended the rate hikes, pointing to an inflation rate of 5.1%.

☆ Israel Discount Bank reports higher third quarter profit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

JERUSALEM, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Israel Discount Bank (DSCT.TA) on Wednesday reported a 31% jump in third-quarter profit, with higher interest rates boosting financing income. Discount, Israel's fourth-largest bank by assets, said it earned a net 893 million shekels ($258 million) in the quarter, up from 722 million a year earlier. Net interest income rose 10% to 2.28 billion shekels, helped by aggressive Bank of Israel rate hikes to fight inflation. Credit loss expenses for the quarter were 106 million shekels compared with income from provisions of 126 million during the same period the previous year. ($1 = 3.4598 shekels)Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israel's Bank Hapoalim Q3 profit jumps amid rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Bank Hapoalim (POLI.TA) reported on Wednesday a 48% jump in quarterly net profit as higher interest rates boosted financing income. Hapoalim, one of Israel's two largest lenders, said it earned a net 1.79 billion shekels ($518 million) in the third quarter, compared with a profit of 1.21 billion shekels a year earlier. Helped by aggressive Bank of Israel rate hikes to fight inflation, net interest income rose 42% to 3.64 billion shekels. Its provision for credit losses was 45 million shekels compared with income from the provision of 252 million shekels last year. Hapoalim said it would pay a dividend of 536 million shekels, or 30% of third quarter net profit, after resuming ongoing dividends in the second quarter.

☆ Erdogan tells Netanyahu relations should be maintained with mutual respect
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers his messages to the journalists in G20 Summit's news conference in Media Center, BICC, Nusa Dua, Badung Regency, Bali, Indonesia, November 16, 2022. ADITYA PRADANA PUTRA/G20 Media Center/Handout via REUTERSANKARA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Israel's former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who won an election this month, that it is important to maintain relations on a basis of respect for mutual interests, the Turkish presidency said on Thursday. In a phone call, Erdogan told Netanyahu he was saddened by "events two days ago in the West Bank". Netanyahu offered his condolences for those who died in a bomb attack in Istanbul on Sunday, the presidency said. Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Ankara this year in the first visit to Turkey by an Israeli leader since 2008.

[1/5] A man handles an ear of wheat in a greenhouse at the Israel Plant Gene Bank at the Volcani Institute in Rishon LeZion, Israel November 3, 2022. REUTERS/Amir CohenRishon Lezion, Israel, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Could the key to securing the world's food supply for the future be hidden in the DNA of crops from the distant past? Tens of thousands of types of seeds are stored in the gene bank. "This is where agriculture started about 10,000 years ago," said Einav Mayzlish-Gati, director of the gene bank. For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 and climate change in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.

☆ Top Israeli bank chairman to speak at Saudi investment event
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Yousef Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The chairman of Israel's Bank Leumi (LUMI.TA) is due to speak at Saudi Arabia's flagship investment conference in Riyadh on Thursday, in the latest sign of a potential thawing in relations between the two countries. In 2020, Riyadh's Gulf allies the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed historic U.S.-brokered deals to normalise relations with Israel. Organisers of the FII conference confirmed Bank Leumi chairman Samer Haj Yehia's planned attendance in response to a Reuters query. Bank Leumi, one of Israel's two largest banks, declined to comment. Haj Yehia is the first Arab Israeli to serve as the bank's chairman.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy asks Israel to join fight against Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday called on Israel to join the fight against Russia and repeated a request for Israeli air defense systems. Zelenskiy said in a video speech to a conference for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Or with those who turn a blind eye to Russian terror, even when the cost of continued terror is the complete destruction of global security," he said. Republican U.S. Representative Mike Turner told reporters on a conference call after he travelled to Ukraine that he was "personally disappointed" with Israel. Zelenskiy said that was not enough and asked that Israeli leaders reconsider sending air defenses as well.

☆ Palestinian killed by Israeli soldiers during West Bank clash
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SALFIT, West Bank, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian during a clash in the occupied West Bank and he later died of his wounds, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday. The Israeli military said Palestinians had started "a violent riot" near the town of Qarawet Bani Hassan on Saturday and soldiers who had been operating there opened fire. One Palestinian who was shot later died, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The incident follows months of tensions that have deepened since Israeli forces began a crackdown in the West Bank in March in response to a series of attacks by Palestinians in Israel. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ali Sawafta, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israel budget deficit climbs to 0.9% of GDP yr/yr in September
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

JERUSALEM, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Israel posted a budget surplus of 0.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) in September over the prior 12 months, up from 0.6% the previous month, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday, citing high tax revenue. Israel has a deficit target of 3.9% of GDP for 2022. In shekel terms, Israel recorded a budget deficit of 100 million shekels ($28 million) last month, bringing the surplus so far in 2022 to 33.3 billion shekels. ($1 = 3.5769 shekels)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by Steven ScheerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A view shows the border wall between Lebanon and Israel as pictured from Kfar Kila village, southern Lebanon, October 11, 2022. The agreement is meant to resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern Mediterranean sea in an area where Lebanon aims to explore for natural gas. It was also endorsed by the heavily armed, Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which until recently has threatened to attack Israeli gas facilities, according to two officials. While Israel has moved ahead with production and export of natural gas, Lebanon's efforts have been hamstrung by political dysfunction. An Israeli official said final approval was expected within the next three weeks.

☆ Volkswagen faces Israeli emissions class action suit after court ruling
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) faces a class action suit in Israel after a court ruled in favour of petitioners seeking compensation from the German carmaker over diesel emissions cheating. A Tel Aviv district court ruled that the class action suit will represent the car owners as well as the general public who were exposed to higher pollution levels, according to a court spokesperson and court documents. The Israeli court ruling did not include the damages being sought and Michael Bach, one of the lawyers who brought the suit, said they are still tallying the number of car owners affected in Israel and calculating the environmental cost. Volkswagen has so far spent more than 32 billion euros in vehicle refits, fines and legal costs. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

REUTERS/Rony Levinson/FilesMAAGAN MICHAEL, Israel, Sept 22 (Reuters) - An ancient shipwreck found off the shore of Israel and loaded with cargo from all over the Mediterranean shows that traders from the West still came to port even after the Islamic conquest of the Holy Land, researchers say. The excavation is backed by the Israel Science Foundation, Honor Frost Foundation and the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University. SHIP GRAVEYARD IN SHALLOW SEASThe coast of Israel is abundant with ships that sank over the millennia. A storm might shift the sands and expose a relic, which is what happened with the new discovery at Maagan Michael. Some of the cargo bore symbols of the Christian Byzantine church and others had writing in Arabic.

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