Interest Free Loan Funds: A Tale Of Two Families, Two Countries

Collection boxes in a Jerusalem neighborhood for canned good the be distributed to the needy. (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)

"While, on the face of it, Atlanta, Ga. and Jerusalem, Israel may not seem to have much in common, one thing both cities unfortunately do share is the growing burden of a tough economy since the onset of the international monetary free-fall in 2007.

"In both countries, hundreds of thousands of people have lost jobs and businesses, with many falling through the cracks in a daily struggle to pay for food, rent, bills, and then the interest on credit cards and bank overdrafts.

“'I had a company, and I grew and grew and grew, but eventually the economy slapped me in the face,'" one Jewish Atlanta-area businesswoman, who requested anonymity, told AJN.

"After seeing her firm lose client after client as the hospitality industry her business served laid off thousands of employees, she finally had no choice but to close down more than a year ago."

Read the rest.

They Cry 'Apartheid,' While Israel Fast-tracks Arabs Into High-tech

"Bridge of Size" at Tel Aviv's Azrieli office towers. (Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

Israel's prowess as the “startup nation” is in no small part due to a relatively small, but well-trained, workforce of engineers and technicians.

However, good intentions and a development plan will get a small company only so far if it does not have sufficient personnel to design and produce the product. Israeli technology employers need substantially more people online and on the cleanroom floor.

Turns out that the call for more, and better-trained high tech personnel dovetails well with an oft-stated, long-term goal of Israeli President Shimon Peres: to better integrate Israel's Arab sector (which makes up over 20 percent of the population) into Israeli society and the Israeli job market.

Read the rest.

CNBC on Israeli Biz Model: 'It Just Works'

"Dan Senor, co-author of 'Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle,' discusses with CNBC how Israel has managed to become a leader in business innovation."

Investors: Israel's Private Debt Ratio Beats U.S.

Despite it all, despite terrorism and threats of war, media hammering and political slamming, Israel is still the place to be for financial groups and corporations with no "Zionist" slant, and that wouldn't drop a dime on a bad bet:

From The Ettinger Report:

1. Irrespective of the global economic meltdown, the war on Palestinian terrorism, the Iranian threat, regional instability and political uncertainty, Standard & Poor (S&P) has left Israel's credit rating unchanged at A and the country forecast rating [has been sustained] as "stable." The rating was approved in all three criteria: Shekel debt, foreign currency debt and transfer and convertibility assessment, which remains at AA (Globes, January 20, 2009).

2. Israel's private debt-private income ratio is 55% (private Israeli
debt amounts to half of private income), compared with 170% in the US, 180% in Britain and almost 200% in Ireland. While the ratio of government debt-gross domestic product is a critical element of national economy, the private debt/income ratio has gained in importance since private consumption has become a crucial engine catapulting or devastating national economy (Yediot Achronot, Sever Plocker, Feb. 6).

3. $500MN raised - via an 11 year bond issue led by J.P. Morgan and Citigroup - by the Israel Electric Company, reflecting confidence in Israel's long-term economy (Globes, Jan. 26).

4. The New Mexico-based $34BN Thornburg Investment Management and Canada's PAW Capital have increased their holding in Israel's Amdocs and Radware from 4.5% to 10.1% (which amounts to $400MN in Amdocs) and from
5.1% to 7.3% ($8.2MN in Radware) respectively (Globes, Jan. 19). Britain's Axell Wireless acquired Israel's DekoLink for a few million dollars (Globes, Jan. 28).

5. Microsoft led a $24MN round by Israel's N-Trig (Globes, Jan. 13). EMC led a $15MN round of private placement by Israel's Varonis. EMC was joined by Accel Partners and other investors (Globes Jan. 23). Mexico's Arancia (food additive) participated in an $11MN round by Israel's Enzymotec (Globes, Feb. 4). Qualcomm is investing $7MN in Israel's Modu (Globes, Jan. 27). Germany's Hasso Plattner Ventures led a $6MN first round by Israel's BrightView (Globes, Jan. 28). Samson Ventures invested $2MN in Israel's SteadyMed (Globes, Jan. 29).

In short: money talks, bs anti-Israel hype walks.

Get more Israel business/investment news here:

• Globes - Israel's Business Arena
• The Marker
  
• Standard and Poor's Israel