Israel Active

The Bank of Israel has a new “state of the art” data center. It is fault tolerant, earthquake resilient, and based on energy-saving green technologies.

Moroccan national airline Royal Air Maroc is launching direct flights between Casablanca and Tel Aviv 3 days a week, commencing Dec 12. Also, UAE’s largest airline Emirates is starting daily flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv on Dec 6.

Israel’s latest Composite State of the Economy Index returned to pre-Covid levels of increase. It was buoyed by increases in services revenue and services exports. Job vacancies are at a record high, reflecting employers’ desire to expand their operations following the reopening of the economy.

Israeli tech firms have raised a staggering $17.8b so far this year - almost double the total for the same period last year, and over 70% more than for the whole of 2020.  October’s $3 billion investments were an all-time record.

Tech giant Oracle has inaugurated its new data center in Jerusalem, which will function as a cloud provider for Israeli clients.  The facility covers thousands of square meters, over four floors and over 50 meters underground. Oracle also announced plans to launch a second Israeli data center.

Israel’s cumulative fiscal deficit for the twelve months to the end of October 2021 narrowed to NIS 47.1 billion.  It represents 5.5% of GDP, which is far less than the 7.2% at the end of September.

US mega-chain 7-Eleven is to open hundreds of Israeli stores. However, unlike other locations, they will be closed on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, from Friday evening until Saturday night. Local company Electra will invest NIS 60 million in setting up the stores over the next three years.

Israel’s HiBob (see previously), the company behind human resources management platform 'bob', is raising $150 million at a $1.65 billion valuation. Meanwhile Israeli biotech startup Immunai (see previously) has raised $215 million at a valuation of just over $1 billion.

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Arabs and Israelis mixed happily together at Expo 2020 in Dubai. Israel's open tent expo pavilion showcased diversity. Also in Dubai, Israeli companies showcased their satellite, camera and space technology at the International Astronautical Congress.