For those of you wondering how Israel's economy was coping with 10 months of war on 7 fronts, here is some useful information.
Israeli cloud security company Wiz was made a $23 billion dollar purchase offer by Google.
If completed, it would have been the largest acquisition in both Google and Israel's history.
But Wiz turned down the offer saying it was flattered but preferred to continue to an IPO.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-wiz-turns-down-googles-23b-acquisition-offer-1001484935
It is notable that the $23Bn Wiz turned down is more than the entire ($21Bn) GDP of Yemen, whose Houthi terrorists attacked Tel Aviv with a drone, killing one of my neighbours and then #FAFO had their main deepwater port, fuel storage and power plant destroyed by Israel.
The Houthis have been engaging in piracy against global commercial shipping harming trade via the Red Sea for 9 months now, with the US actions to stop it ineffective. Israel finally showed the US how its done and taught the Houthis and their Iranian sponsor a lesson they won't forget, cutting off their arms and fuel supply.
You don't turn down a $23Bn offer if you or your country is in economic trouble. Turning down such a massive offer is a sign of huge confidence.
But this is not the only example of how strong Israel's economy is.
Israel's defence industries are experiencing massive growth, with each year breaking new records.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israel-defense-cos-signed-export-orders-worth-record-13b-in-2023-1001481684
In the middle of this war the Arab country of Morocco just did a $1Bn deal to acquire defence satellites from Israel Aircraft Industries.
Meanwhile Israeli trade with the Arab world increased since Oct 7, driven by a $200M+ increase in exports to Israel from UAE.
https://dohanews.co/arab-companies-export-kosher-products-to-israel-despite-boycott-calls-report/
Israel's tech industry is also booming with a 31% increase in private investment to $5.1Bn in the first half of 2024.
These are huge numbers in anyone's books and more than offset the decline in tourism and agriculture because of the war. These industries are very minor parts of Israel's GDP, although they employ more people than their economic contribution. Despite these job losses, Israel's unemployment is at record lows.
I can also personally testify to the fact that the shops, cafe's restaurants of Israel are very busy, indeed so crazy busy at times I sometimes long for the quiet in the weeks after Oct 7!
This has been especially pronounced in the last 3 months which won't yet show up in official figures.
There is also anecdotal evidence of a baby boom post Oct 7 which will increase Israel's already world record (for a rich country) fertility even higher, while the rest of the civilised world is suffering a huge fertility crisis.
So if anyone tries to tell you that Israel's economy is in trouble or cannot cope with a long war, you can link to this Hive post to tell them that its total BS!
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