As for Israel as an oasis of prosperity amidst an economic desert, just don't bet the kibbutz on it....
Wednesday, February 20, 2002 Adar 8, 5762
Occupation or prosperity
The data on the economy and unemployment published yesterday is very grave. Unemployment reached an unprecedented 258,600 in the last quarter of 2001, representing 10.2 percent of the work force, while the number of job-seekers also reached a new high - 209,300 in January. Unemployment not only deepened, it expanded: In January there were 24 townships where unemployment topped 10 percent, compared to 15 in 2001. The high unemployment rate is a direct result of the deepening recession. In the last quarter of 2001, local production dropped by 7.2 percent while commercial production plummeted by 12 percent. There were similar dramatic declines in investment and private consumption.
When data like this is reported, a series of automatic reactions follows. Politicians from the left and right are shocked. Histadrut chairman Amir Peretz called for an emergency team to fight unemployment, while Manufacturers Association President Oded Tirah issued a series of recommendations that would mostly help industrialists. But nobody dares touch on the real reason for the crisis: the lethal conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The world economic crisis, which began with the bursting of the high-tech bubble and deepened after the terror attacks in the U.S., is shaking Israel's economy. Obviously, a small country cannot influence such global trends. But Israel is also not doing anything in those areas where it can shape its own destiny. The country's leaders continue to ascribe to the ethos of settlement in the territories, even when it is clear that the price of that stubbornness is disastrous - politically, militarily and economically.
The data is evident for all to see: After the Oslo agreements with the Palestinians were signed in 1993, a period of growth began in Israel, including unprecedented foreign investment. Unemployment dropped from 11 percent to a welcome low 6.5 percent - at a time when immigration from the former Soviet Union was at full swing and 200,000 foreign workers came to Israel. There was plenty of work for everyone. When Israel shows up on the TV screens as a terror-struck state, as it did during the 1996 terror attacks, the conflict over the Hasmonean Tunnel in Jerusalem under Benjamin Netanyahu's administration, and, of course, the last 16 months, the economic result is clear: recession and rising unemployment.
In the past year, it has become increasingly clear that it is impossible to conduct a normal economy while the state's resources are aimed at perpetuating the occupation and the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The real remedy for the economic crisis will be found when Israel deals with the root causes of the conflict with the Palestinians. Only a determined effort to reach reconciliation between the two peoples, based on ending the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state beside the state of Israel, can result in peace and economic prosperity. By promising it can have the territories as well as peace, security and prosperity, the government is deceiving the public.
haaretz.co.il
But then again, there's still a ray of hope filtering through all that gloom-and-doom... At least one Israeli industry's thriving: Organized Crime is alive and kicking!
11 convicted in Paris fraud believed here
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By Michel Zlotowski January, 30 2002
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PARIS (January 30) - Eleven of the 88 people who were found guilty, fined, and sentenced to up to seven years in jail at the end of the biggest fraud trial in France are believed to be in Israel. They are among 13 who were tried in absentia. Another 36 were acquitted.
The defendants were convicted for defrauding banks and insurance companies of 82 million euros in a case centered on Paris's mainly Jewish garment district. The fraud involved using fake invoices to secure bank loans in 1996 and 1997.
Wholesalers pretended to sell goods to a retailer in exchange for time bills. The bills were immediately discounted at a bank. The retailer then folded or vanished.
This apparently simple scheme was complicated by its size and the involvement of several bankers in France and Israel. According to the court, accommodation bills and fraudulent checks were sent from France to several Israeli banks, among them the First International Bank of Israel. The banks, in turn, discounted them at the French branch of the American Express bank and other banks, including Societe Generale, one of the largest French banks.
Discounting bills or checks is legal, but doing so with bad bills is not. Given the amount of money involved, the court said, some of the bankers must have been aware of the embezzlement. "They were going ahead because each such operation meant real profit for their bank," said an investigator.
Several lawyers criticized the heavy-handed attitude of the investigating judge, Isabelle Prévost-Deprez. She has been accused by some of those prosecuted of being motivated by anti-Semitism.
According to a conservative estimate, more than 75% of those found guilty are Jewish; some hold Israeli citizenship.
Haim Weizman, the man prosecutors said organized the fraud, was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison. He is believed to be living in Israel.
The Paris judges rejected a plea from several banks, saying that it was impossible for the bankers to have been unaware of what was going on. Those banks will not be refunded for their losses.
jpost.com |
