TRANSPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE

In an unprecedent step, importers have cut prices due to the strong shekel, increased competition and the need to offload existing inventories.

The port’s docks, which until November 2023 were packed with imported cars from Japan, Korea and China, have never been emptier.

Among the projects in the tenders are the improvement of the stretch of Road 44 between Beit Dagan and Nir Zvi.

Finance will be needed to bridge timing gaps between the expenditure on Israel's largest ever infrastructure project and revenue from taxation and charges.

The cost of the project has risen to NIS 177 billion, while tax collection from development along its route is liable to be much lower than the government's estimates.

The 22-kilometer section will have three new interchanges.

Purchase tax on electric cars from January will rise from 45% to 48%, instead of 52%, as the Ministry of Finance initially wanted.

The new finance will be used to recycle the existing debt.

The board says the proposal undervalues the company and that it has received "competitive proposals from multiple strategic parties."

Amid growing US pressure, and waning interest from European companies, the question of Chinese involvement in Israel’s biggest infrastructure project returns to the fore.

Both ISS and Glass, Lewis & Co. recommend supporting the board's candidates for directorships.

The new cameras, which will measure the average speed between two points on a section of road, are scheduled to become operational in the third quarter of 2026.

Electra will be responsible for detailed planning, construction, implementation of technological systems, operation and maintenance of the project for 20 years.

The German shipping giant is apparently not the only company to have expressed interest. ZIM's workers are fiercely opposed to a sale.

Jozsef Varadi made the commitment in a meeting with Minister of Transport Miri Regev, although not all issues have been settled, and the Histadrut threatens disruption.

Israeli startup AIR’s eVTOL aircraft could revolutionize private aviation, and has already received groundbreaking approval from the US authorities.

The board has apparently decided not to proceed with a buyout offer from its CEO Eli Glickman and Rami Ungar.

The airline has found that flights between Israel and Europe will not be sufficient to justify the move.

Amit Lang spoke at the Israel Business Conference about the potential of water to change the "geopolitical fabric."

ZIM chairperson Yair Seroussi: All the shipping companies are traded at a discount, but we are certainly aware of the issue of the company’s value.

Despite concern in the west about awarding strategic infrastructure deals to Chinese companies, the private sector in Israel provides a “back door” for them.

Adv. Ophir Naor, who represents the group: We shall remind anyone who has forgotten that the company has owners.

There will be an increase in purchase tax on electric vehicles, and the tax break on low pollution vehicles will be reduced.

NTA has published the pre-qualification tender for companies to enter a pool of contractors for Israel's largest ever infrastructure project.

If no alternative budgetary source is found, the demise of the travel tax could mean the end of tax breaks on purchasing electric vehicles.

Minister of Transport Miri Regev opposes the reform, which is included in the Economic Arrangements Bill.

Experts warn that without a change in the approach to planning, the transport situation in Israel will only worsen.

Tesla Israel country manager Itay Raved has written to Minister of Transport Miri Regev in efforts to prevent another tax hike on electric vehicles in 2026.

The funds from the offering, led by More Investment, will be used primarily for investments and development of activities in the energy.

The Israeli company is transforming existing optical fiber into the world’s most advanced infrastructure monitoring platform.