Israel Active

Jerusalem hotels Inbal (4th) and David Citadel (7th) were voted into the top 10 best hotels in the Middle East by Conde Nast Traveller and described as being among the ”pinnacles of luxury” – for those who can afford it. Both hotels won most praise for location, design and food.

Experts estimate that the offshore Yam Hadera field has a best estimate of gross recoverable reserves of 133 million barrels of oil and 1.4 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas. The license owner held an exceptional news conference “since the results from Yam Hadera are very significant.”

The Skolkovo Foundation has selected two Israeli start-ups to establish bi-national ventures in Russia. Jointech Med is developing a device to reduce intra-articular pressure in the knee and Argus Computer Vision is developing an intelligent traffic rules enforcement system.

Having received initial orders of $3 million previously, The Israeli defence electronics giant has now $38 million worth of follow-up orders for its Wide Angle Conventional Head-Up Display (WAC HUD).

A new service by the company “Face-Them” seeks to bridge the gap between investor and Israeli entrepreneurs. “Face-Them” offers a free “Live Stream” website service available exclusively for the investment community to meet with those businesses seeking early investment capital.

Swiss private bank Julius Baer Group will open an office in Tel Aviv in early 2012. Baer has been in business since the 1890s, and currently operates in 40 financial centres in 20 countries. Board members recognised “the value of the Israeli market, and confidence in its ability to grow and thrive.”

The joint venture is building a factory near Shanghai that will have an initial capacity to produce 150,000 cars per year, for marketing in China and Western Europe.

The year 2011 will be a record year in Israel's fruit yield with a total of 690,000 tons of fruit produced, according to the Fruit Growers' Organization. “The land shall yield her fruit, …. and you shall dwell therein in safety.”

I featured this innovative Israeli software in April. Superfish allows you to compare prices of items by searching Internet images to find similar items for sale elsewhere. Superfish has just raised $4 million of funds for marketing and development including a possible mobile phone version.

The SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas is a B2B conference for the interactive, film, and music industries. Israel is considered a technology and creative powerhouse, and conference organisers have encouraged many Israeli companies to participate.