Even though the Israeli real estate market has barely taken a hit in the current economic slowdown, Israeli consumer confidence has. That must be a reason to explain why fewer and fewer Israeli’s are looking to make real estate purchases.
According to Globes: “The economic uncertainty has caused Israelis to defer dreams of buying a first apartment or moving to a new one. In April, 6.6% of Israelis said that they planned to buy a new or second-hand apartment in the next six months, compared with 7% of Israelis in March, according to the Consumer Confidence Index, compiled by Globes Research and Kesselman and Kesselman - PricewaterhouseCoopers Israel. This is the lowest level since January 2009, and before that - in January 2006.
The low level of planned home purchases in April is unexpected, since the Consumer Confidence Index jumped in April to 76.1 points, its level before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.”
Let’s see if this lower demand will translate into lower home prices.
Thanks to Bizzywomen.com for this guest post:
As a woman that tries to be sensitive to the needs and feelings of others, I supported President Barack Obama’s run for the presidency. I felt that he really understood the feeling of women and that he connected with me personally, and we really needed the change that he offered. Now I am rethinking that position.
I am no lover of Rush Limbaugh, but I do respect his right to practice free speech, and even though I don’t agree with 90% of what he says, i certainly wish him no harm nor think that he is a traitor or a terrorist. This weekends white House Corresspondents dinner, was the stage for comidienne Wanda Sykes unleashing a barage against Mr. Limbaugh, in what i would term terrible distatse, and President Obama laughing hysterically at the jokes.
According to the Telegraph: ” I was at the dinner and I began by laughing at Sykes’s gentle teases about the press loving Obama so much they never capture him on film smoking but often seem to get him on the beach.
It was amusing when she quipped that Obama trying so hard to be all things to all men that the next thing is he’ll be seen mowing the White House lawn.
But the speech took a very ugly turn when she laid into Limbaugh.
This is what she said: ”Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails, so you’re saying, ‘I hope America fails’, you’re, like, ‘I dont care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq’. He just wants the country to fail. To me, that’s treason.
“He’s not saying anything differently than what Osama bin Laden is saying. You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight.”
She then concluded: ”Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a good waterboarding, that’s what he needs.” Obama seemed to think this bit was pretty hilarious, grinning and chuckling and turning to share the “joke” with the person sitting on his right.
There’s not much room for differing interpretations of what Sykes said. She called Limbaugh a terrorist and a traitor, suggested that he be tortured and wished him dead.”
Now let’s not forget Obama’s appearance on Jay Leno a few months back when he made his infamous ‘Special Olympics’ joke.
This stuff is not funny and it shows a disrespect towards anyone who is not cut out of the same mold. This is not how Obama campaigned, but to my chagrin, it seems like a pattern, and it’s not something that I am proud of. As a parent, this is not the kind of bahvior that i want my kids to be exposed to.
Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the Holy Land for a week long tour, the first since Pope John Paul II came in 2000 and only the third visit in recent papal history.
Bringing and escorting the Pope around Israel is not a simple matter. In fact, much of Jerusalem is coming close to shutting down this week to make way for an enormous security detail. Dubbed “Operation White Cloak”, His Holiness will have over 80,000 security personnel in his retinue, including over 60,000 policemen.
Hashmira Security Technologies LTD. has set up a command and control center to supervise secuirty during the Pope’s visit to Israel.
According to an article in Globes:
Hashmira’s command and control center will provide remote monitoring solutions of the sites being visited by the Pope to Israel’s police and security forces.
The system that Hashmira has set up is estimated to have cost millions of shekels and will link to the Pope entire itinerary while he’s in Israel, including Jerusalem’s Old City, Yad Vashem, Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem, the Notre Dame Hospice in Jerusalem, the residence of the Vatican Ambassador to Israel, and the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
Photo credit: Associated Press
In an attempt at cutting off any thought of an Israeli withdrawal of the Golan Heights as part of any peace deal with Syria, PM Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the Golan Heights will remain in Israeli control.
According to Ynet: “Netanyahu’s remark clarifies that the Turkish-mediated talks held between Damascus and the Ehud Olmert government have been frozen and would likely remain that way. The Syrians are demanding an Israeli declaration on the Jewish state’s willingness to withdraw from the Golan Heights as the basis for any continued dialogue.
The prime minister has said in closed forums that he is ready to hold negotiations with Syria, without preconditions. Before the Knesset elections in February, Netanyahu visited the Golan and planted a tree there as a symbol of Israel’s sovereignty over the area.”
Let’s hope that Netanyahu can stay strong cause as he gets set to meet Prez. Obama, the pressure is sure to mount.
