The European Union plans to propose a partial suspension of the bloc’s trade agreement with Israel as pressure piles on the institution to take a harder line on Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported. “We will propose sanctions on the extremist ministers and on violent settlers, and we will also propose a partial suspension of the association agreement on trade-related matters,” EU President Ursula von der Leyen said, addressing the crisis in Gaza that has divided European states.
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Landa Digital Printing, the Israel-based developer of Nanographic digital printing technology, has filed for court protection as it grapples with significant financial challenges, Label & Narrow Web reported. According to reports in Israeli media, including tech news outlet Ctech, the company is burdened with approximately $516 million in debt and has encountered a critical cash flow shortfall following the abrupt withdrawal of shareholder funding. The move comes after years of heavy investment and limited commercial return.
In their fourth day of fighting, with no end in sight, ripples from the Israeli-Iranian conflict are beginning to rock global supply chains, Bloomberg News reported. Some oil tanker owners and managers have paused offering their vessels for Middle Eastern routes as they assess the risks, fueling concerns over export flows from the region. The stability of shipping in and around the Middle East will be closely watched by markets in coming weeks.
Israel's attack on Iran Friday has catapulted their long-running conflict into what could become a wider, more dangerous regional war and potentially drive prices higher for both businesses and households, the Associated Press reported. Oil and gold surged and the dollar rose as markets retreated, signaling a flight to investments perceived as more safe. After years of sky-high inflation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have become increasingly leery about the economy this year due to President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, though the impact so far has been muted.
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When Builder.ai was seeking an emergency loan in 2024, the start-up gave lenders a revenue forecast that proved to be four times its actual sales, Bloomberg News reported. A group of creditors, led by Israeli firm Viola Credit, were originally told that Builder.ai projected sales of US$220 million (S$284 million) for 2024, the people said. The company later disclosed that the actual revenue amount for the year turned out to be about US$50 million. That revelation was one of the factors that ultimately led the lenders to seize most of the UK-based artificial intelligence (AI) start-up’s cash.
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Israeli tech entrepreneur Moshe Yanai denied insolvency claims on Sunday, asserting that he holds significant assets through his investment firm, MII, YNetNews.com reported. According to a U.S. court ruling, MII’s portfolio is valued at approximately $1.1 billion — or several hundred million dollars at a minimum. Tech mogul Moshe Yanai denies insolvency, cites $1.1B MII portfolio in Tel Aviv court battle. Yanai made the argument in a request to halt legal proceedings, filed Sunday with the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, in response to a bankruptcy petition by the investment fund Scintilla.
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Israel’s central bank left interest rates unchanged as it weighs a war-related economic slowdown and quickening inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The Bank of Israel held its base case rate at 4.5% on Monday, in line with the estimates of all economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It was the monetary policy committee’s seventh straight hold and last decision of the year, with the next meeting scheduled for early January.
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the West Bank’s economy could collapse if Israel doesn’t preserve its banking relationship with Palestinian financial institutions in the territory it occupies, highlighting another potential source of instability as Israel also fights foes in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yellen and several of her global counterparts urged the Israeli leader’s government to approve a waiver that would continue to allow Palestinian and Israeli banks to correspond.
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Israel’s central bank left interest rates unchanged even as it lowered economic-growth forecasts, with the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon causing inflationary pressures and preventing the country from joining a global easing cycle, Bloomberg News reported. The bank kept its benchmark rate at 4.5% on Wednesday, in line with the estimates of all economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It was the monetary committee’s sixth straight hold.
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