Israel’s output contracted sharply in the final three months of 2023, falling for the first time in nearly two years, as the war with Hamas takes a heavy toll on the economy.
Gross domestic product (GDP) plunged 19.4% on an annualized basis compared with the July-to-September quarter, when it grew by a revised 1.8%, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday in its initial estimate.
Fixed investment by businesses tumbled 67.8%, “driven by a near-halt in residential building resulting from military call-ups and a reduction in Palestinian workers,” according to Liam Peach, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.
The conflict has made it even harder to raise money, but demand for tech firms’ services has held up well as the industry serves primarily international customers, according to StartupNation Central CEO Avi Hasson.
The world’s biggest tech companies, which collectively employ thousands of people in Israel, continue to do business in the country, Hasson also noted, but added that “huge uncertainty” remained over the duration and consequences of the war.
In a strong vote of confidence, Intel said in December that it would stick with plans to build a chipmaking factory in the south of Israel, pouring $25 billion into the project — an investment Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described as the biggest in the country’s history.
Jon Medved, the CEO of OurCrowd, a major global venture investing platform based in Israel, told CNN that a delegation of Korean investors was due to arrive in the country within days “despite horribly difficult flight arrangements.”
The original article contains 903 words, the summary contains 223 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Gross domestic product (GDP) plunged 19.4% on an annualized basis compared with the July-to-September quarter, when it grew by a revised 1.8%, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday in its initial estimate.
Fixed investment by businesses tumbled 67.8%, “driven by a near-halt in residential building resulting from military call-ups and a reduction in Palestinian workers,” according to Liam Peach, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.
The conflict has made it even harder to raise money, but demand for tech firms’ services has held up well as the industry serves primarily international customers, according to StartupNation Central CEO Avi Hasson.
The world’s biggest tech companies, which collectively employ thousands of people in Israel, continue to do business in the country, Hasson also noted, but added that “huge uncertainty” remained over the duration and consequences of the war.
In a strong vote of confidence, Intel said in December that it would stick with plans to build a chipmaking factory in the south of Israel, pouring $25 billion into the project — an investment Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described as the biggest in the country’s history.
Jon Medved, the CEO of OurCrowd, a major global venture investing platform based in Israel, told CNN that a delegation of Korean investors was due to arrive in the country within days “despite horribly difficult flight arrangements.”
The original article contains 903 words, the summary contains 223 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!