Israel Active

El Al Airlines’ Spring schedule now has 31 weekly nonstop flights between North America and Israel. They include 22 flights from New York (JFK/Newark), five from Los Angeles and four from Toronto, Canada.

(Thanks to algemeiner.com) The number of tourists visiting Israel in April was a record-breaking 385,000 – 9% more than in Apr 2013. Even after accounting for the Passover/Easter effect, the increase was still 5%. Over 1 million tourists have visited Israel in 2014 – 16% more than in 2013.

The developers of Israel’s massive natural gas deposits at the Leviathan field have successfully raised the $2billion necessary to continue the project. Leviathan’s 18 trillion cubic feet of gas should start flowing in 2016, ensuring Israel’s future energy requirements are secure.

Israel’s new found energy resource could be a big peacemaker. Following Turkey’s announcement that it was buying natural gas from Israel, now Egypt’s suppliers have signed a letter of intent to purchase supplies from Israel. Israel used to import Egyptian gas but not any more.

Chinese Vice-Premier of the State Council Liu Yandong makes the case for better Israel-China cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI). She cites historical links, growth in bi-lateral trade, the value of STI and the mutual benefits of cooperation between the two countries.

The Victorian Government of Australia will grant up to $250,000 for Victorian companies to work with Israeli companies on research and development in science, innovation and technology. The Israeli Government will offer Israeli companies soft loans of up to 50% of R&D expenses.

Israel's gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of 2013 crossed the NIS 1 trillion mark ($302 billion) for the first time ever. The figure was over a third more than the previous high of $226 billion in Q4 2010. As a result, 2013’s GDP per capita also hit a record high - NIS 130,700 ($37,500).

At the end of April, Israel had the equivalent of over $86 billion in foreign exchange deposits - nearly 1 billion more than at the end of March. Israel’s National Reserve Fund due to the natural gas program now totals over $3 billion.

Economy minister Naftali Bennet has unveiled his new “Regulation Light” plan to promote more entrepreneurship in Israel. New businesses will get a five-year grace period on some regulatory activities in order to make it easier for them to develop and market their products.

A report by the UK’s Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) shows that after Hong Kong, Israel is the best place to become a “super-entrepreneur”. The CPS report analyzed billionaires on Forbes’ lists of the world’s richest people who earned their fortunes instead of inheriting them.