2024-07-04 00:39:24
Based on the Central Bureau of Statistics’ June 2024 Business Trends Survey, the percentage of businesses stating that the security situation in Israel is a significant obstacle decreased in the second quarter of 2024.
The Jerusalem Post reports this.
These figures increased sharply at the beginning of Israel’s war against the Hamas terrorist group, but then fell sharply in retail trade in the second quarter of 2024, while the decline in industry was slower, according to the CBS. At the end of the second quarter of 2024, the percentage in industry was 17%, and in retail – 11%.
The study also shows that the proportion of high-tech companies that view the difficulty of penetrating new markets as a significant barrier has increased, reaching 22% by the end of Q2 2024, up from 9% at the start of this year.
Overall, businesses reported positive net balances across all sectors in June, according to the survey. Net balances in May-April reflected higher sales in manufacturing and services and a decline in retail sales. Expectations for July were positive for all sectors except construction and hospitality.
Earlier, Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman said that the Israeli government continues to ignore startups, which leads to a worsening of the situation in the country’s high-tech market.
“Israel’s high-tech market is in a very difficult situation: foreign investment has dropped significantly,” he noted.
Lieberman pointed to the military actions and “the irresponsible policies of the government, which has moved away from high-tech issues” as reasons for this development. The head of the Knesset subcommittee on the development of the high-tech industry expressed the need to discuss with industry representatives possible measures to support Israeli startups.
Liberman stressed the importance of finding domestic sources of investment, arguing that institutional investors such as insurance companies have more than NIS 3 trillion. Even if 0.5% of this money were invested in Israeli startups, it would result in an investment of NIS 15 billion.
“This is a key moment that can change the situation and restore Israel’s leading position in the high-tech market,” he stressed.
Lieberman also noted that returning foreign capital to its previous level in the near future will be a difficult task, so it is important to actively develop domestic investment.
In addition, the Ministry of Construction recently reported whether apartments in Israel will become more expensive.
2024-07-04 00:39:24