Israel Active

Israel’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell by 0.3% in Nov. In the year to the end of Nov 2023, the index rose by 3.3%, down from 3.7% from the 12 months to the end Oct. Unemployment in Israel fell to 2.8% in Nov from 3.1% in Oct.

German airline group Lufthansa plans to resume 20 weekly flights to & from Tel Aviv from Jan 8. Austrian Airlines and SWISS will also restart their services. Meanwhile, El Al and Delta have formalized a long-term codeshare agreement to combine frequent-flyer schemes.

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US Okta is acquiring Israel’s for ;

Israel’s Kando (see previously) has begun a six-month pilot project to monitor municipal wastewater systems and facilities in Phoenix Arizona. Kando’s sensors will detect irregularities caused mainly by illegal dumping at industrial sites.

Israeli social impact high tech venture Place-IL (see previously) is leading an $15 million initiative, along with Google, Nvidia and others  to create 400 high-tech jobs in war-affected Gaza border towns.  Hi-tech will be crucial for building resilience and hope.

Global digital investment platform, OurCrowd, has approved the first 8 investments from its $50 million Resilience Fund (see previously). The companies include , , , and .

Businesses such as fashion store chain Castro had put 30% of its 4,500 employees on unpaid leave in October due to falling sales at the outbreak of the war. Castro has now re-engaged 90% of those furloughed staff, as shoppers have been coming back to its stores and online sales have also started to recover.

Microsoft is one of 370 multinationals with development centers in Israel. It has some 2,700 employees and earned a whopping NIS 3.5 billion for Microsoft in 2023. The Israeli R&D team has just announced its new real time automatic attack disruption security platform that took two years to develop.

Israeli President Herzog is to pardon monetary fines for war-affected families who face severe financial hardship. The scheme was advanced in response to Druze leader Sheikh Muafak Tarif’s request during Herzog’s visit to bereaved families in the Druze and Bedouin communities.