With global capital markets in the middle of a meltdown, it would be expected that the Israeli hi-tech startup industry would be in shambles. With most investors hunkered down waiting for the storm to pass, they wouldn’t seem to be in the mood to fund new companies. Well that may be what you would expect, in reality it’s not the case. According to a report in Globes the number of startups that have closed their doors this year is actually much less than in the previous 2 years. “According to IVC Online, 35 start-ups have closed down since January: 24 companies in the first quarter, six in the second quarter, and five in July-August. For the sake of comparison, 228 companies closed down in 2007 as a whole and the number that closed in 2006 was about the same.”

That hardly sounds the panic whistle. It’s hard to understand why

For those who think that the local Israeli economy is immune to a global economic slowdown, today’s economic numbers on consumer confidence, may want you to think again. Globes reports that the index dropped to its lowest leevl in 4 years.

The article says: “The Consumer Confidence Index has been falling since the third quarter of 2007, even before there were signs that the economy was entering a slowdown. The index indicates that the public has sensed the economic trends for a long time, even as official macroeconomic data only now shows declines in private consumption and slower growth.”

With so much of the recent local economic success due to strong consumer spending and optimism, this continued deline in confidence, could spell the end of the current economic cycle. Growth estimates have been sliced, and while official estimates are still over 3% GDP growth for the year, with a slowing consumer

With the hedge fund industry facing more scrutiny than ever before it’s quite amazing that Hunter Biden’s sour hedge fund deal, where he is accused of defrauding a former business partner and an investor of millions of dollars, has barely been mentioned in the press. After all he is the son of Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden.( Could that be the reason?)

According to a story in the Washington Post: “A lawsuit filed by their former partner Anthony Lotito Jr. asserts in court papers that the deal was crafted to get Hunter Biden out of lobbying because his father was concerned about the impact it would have on his bid for the White House. Biden was running for the Democratic nomination at the time the suit was filed.” The article continues, “Hunter Biden was made president with an annual salary of $1.2 million, despite his inexperience

IsraelNewsletter.com had the chance to sit down with an amazing, young pair of college students who are leading an innovative initiative that will give college students hands-on exposure to the Israeli economy by learning and by doing.  The TAMID Israel Investment Group at the University of Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg for this pair.

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Tell Us A Bit About TAMID Israel Investment Group.

Eitan Ingall, President: This whole idea started because Sasha Gribov and I are both the Presidents of Pro-Israel groups on campus at University of Michigan. Sasha is head of the Hillel group, American Movement for Israel and I am currently heading up a pro Israel political advocacy group called the Israel Initiative for Dialogue Education and Advocacy. We have both noticed a serious void in hasbara (Israel advocacy) on our campus in that there is a serious lack of sustained and substantive

While one rock star, Barack Obama, gets ready to accept his party’s nomination for president in front of 75,000 screaming fans at a football stadium in Denver, a real rock star, Paul McCartney, has a greed to a performance in Tel Aviv. McCartney will make a pretty penny for the gig. According to a report in Globes:  “The cost of bringing ex-Beatle McCartney to Israel will reach NIS 30 million (about $8.5 million), half of which will go to McCartney and his promoters, while the other half will cover production costs. At a price of NIS 1,500 ($425) for a front row ticket and NIS 500 ($142) for a place on the park itself, the promoters will have to sell 50,000 tickets only to cover the cost.”

They are expecting over 70,000 people to show up. Of course this is without taking into account any sponsorship money.

McCartney will pull in

With the Democratic National Convention in full swing, expect much attention focused on alternative energy, Cleantech and environmental issues. After all, House Speaker Pelosi has mentioned that her goal is to save the planet and Al Gore will show up and do his usual speech on how global warming will destroy the planet if we don’t do anything ASAP. I don’t want my cynicism to show through but have the DNC and Obama’s organizers taken any measures to ensure that this convention is environmentally friendly? How much energy is being used to run the event? Just asking.

Anyway, a great article out in the Jpost today about how Israel is on the way to being a world leader in Cleantech. While Shai Agassi’s electric car initiative has gained many headlines around the world, Israel is also very quietly making strong inroads, in solar and water technologies. The article

You turn on the faucet, and-voila-you have a drink of water! Those of us who come from western nations tend to take water for granted. However, after a few years in Israel, we appreciate the fact that whatever water we receive is a gift. The media is filled with reports about how the world is running low on crude oil, but not too much attention is paid to the growing water crisis. Water as an Investment As abundant as it appears to be, only about 20% of the global population has access to running water.  Additionally, only one-third of the world’s population has access to clean water. In fact, many estimate that in 40 years, more than four billion people, half the world’s population, will be living in areas that are chronically short of water. Moreover, economic development has placed greater pressure than ever on the supply of fresh water.

So today the Manufacturers Association of Israel is out calling on the government to implement some kind of emergency rescue program to save the fledgling textile industry. They say that due to the Shekel strength over the last year or so, exports have fallen and about 5% of workers in the industry have lost their jobs in ‘08.

According to a report in Globes: “While textile exports fell 3.3% to $520 million in the first half in real terms, compared with the corresponding period, textile imports (especially from Asia), rose 18.6% to $656 million.”

Unfortunately what they neglect to say is that this is nothing new. Israel has lost textile market share for years, as even local producers have turned to Jordan and other countries with much cheaper production costs. Basically, due to the fact that many in the Israeli textile industry are unionized, they have succeeded in pricing themselves out

Your cell phone bills may start to get cheaper. Why? Well just like traditional fixed land-line prices dropped to virtually nothing due to new technology, most notably Voice Over IP (VOIP), the same thing may very well happen to your cell phone as well. An Israeli hi-tech start-up, Spikko ltd. is set to launch a free cellular telephone service for handsets with at least 3G capabilities.

According to a report in Globes: “Each subscriber receives the company’s SpikkoPhone software and an Israeli telephone number, which is used to make calls and accumulate airtime, allowing for the placing of calls for free anywhere in the world. The service also offers video and chat services, and will soon also offer e-mail and instant messaging.”

Currently it’s available in Israel only, but the company is working on making the service available internationally. The company estimates that customers will save between 40-80% off

It’s no secret that the airline industry has issues. Soaring fuel costs, have left airlines scrambling for ways to increase revenues. Instead of just raising fares and cutting capacity, airlines have decided to nickel and dime travelers to death. Just yesterday the Israeli El Al airlines decided to start charging travelers more for seats in an emergency row. This follows other airlines charging for pillows, food, luggage…etc.

Customers are getting fed up with an ever expanding list of fees. In an age where most industries have made their fee structures much more simple, the airlines have decide to drive us crazy. ” Sir, you’d like ice with your beverage? That’ll be 3 bucks.” Or “Miss, I am sorry but since your shoes have high heels, that’ll be $2.”

You know, if airlines really wanted to be fair about each individuals contribution to the amount of fuel used per flight, and then