Nothing like investing in real estate at a market high with a lot of leverage. Just ask former Israel billionaire Lev Leviev, as he continues his fire-sale of property to raise cash to help pay down his debts.

According to Globes: “Africa-Israel chairman Lev Leviev is continuing the sell-off of properties. Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL) subsidiary Africa-Israel Properties Ltd.AFPR) has signed an memorandum of understanding (MOU) to sell 95% and half of the unused building rights of the Africa-Israel Tower in Tel Aviv to a group of foreign buyers for NIS 166.5 million. (TASE:

The company did not disclose the identity of the buyer.”

Let’s hope he is able to sell off enough properties to pay off bondholders.

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For the second time in 5 months The Israeli Bank Discount ha ssaid that it won’t meet Bank of Israel deadlines on ‘doubtful debt.’

According to a Globes report: “Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) has notified the Bank of Israel that it will not be able to implement the Banking Supervision Department’s new guidelines on doubtful debts. The requirements are outlined in the circular, “Measurement and disclosure of doubtful debts, credit risk, and provisions for credit losses”. The article continues, “In the financial report for the third quarter of 2008, published in November, Discount Bank said, “Despite many efforts and resources devoted to the subject, concern arises that the bank will not be able to complete its preparations by the date set.” This concern is now being realized. So far, Discount Bank is the only bank to state that it will not meet the timetable. ”

The bank refused to comment but it makes you wonder why they are the only ones having trouble adhering to the new regulation?

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Has the massive shekel run finally come to an end?  Deutsche Bank thinks so.  Globes reports today that DB analysts think that the recently-announced 4-fold increase of dollar purchases (up to $100 million/day) by the Bank of Israel may be the proverbial top for the Israeli shekel, which has enjoyed a huge run against most of the world’s top currencies over the past couple of years.  We’ve written voluminously on the shekel’s rise that’s even prompted certain Israeli hi-tech firms to offshore engineering work to the U.S. Globes also recently reported that wages of senior Israeli high tech managers are beginning to come under pressure.

With gas station managers in the U.S. rumaging through storage units due to a shortage of ‘4’s’ to display on their pumps, I wonder if Israeli gas station managers are having the same problem with ‘8’s’?  Brutal.

The large multinational tech firms (and now consumer products firms) continue to use Israel as a R&D hub.  Interesting historical view/story of Sun Microsystems Israel here.  It’s part of a larger series done by Ayelet Noff on Israeli High Tech. Om Malik also shared his thoughts on a recent trip to Israel for the Israel 2008 conference here. VC Cafe’s Eze Vidra has a good article about Israeli firms receiving funding but fighting for survival here.

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange mulls change in market hours here.

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Tell us a bit about yourself.
Eze Vidra, VCCafe.com: I’m originally from Argentina. My parents moved to Israel with me in 1987 when I was just a kid. I grew up in Israel and did my army service. I moved to the US about 4 years ago. I’ve now been in Northern California for over a year. In 2003 I cofounded a firm that enabled text input solutions for PDAs ad mobile devices. At the time, it was almost impossible for Israeli companies to raise money. During the fund raising process, I met a CEO with a firm that eventually offered me a position on the spot. That firm was Gerson Lehrman Group, the hedge fund research firm. I started in IT as a project manager and grew into a position where I was managing the integration of business requirements and IT products. (Continue »)

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