A short three months ago we wrote "that a state commission of
inquiry, to determine the responsibility of the poor performance of
the Israel Defense Forces, and the management of the war by the
government has not been put into place, as yet. Bickering among the
top echelons of the army is prevalent and getting considerable
exposure in the local media".
Investigators are questioning the Prime Minister's purchase and sale
of real estate. Moreover the president, whose role is mainly
ceremonial, is facing criminal charges related to sexual harassment.
The former Minister of Justice is facing criminal charges related to
charges of rape and another Member of Knesset is facing charges for
improper political appointments".
Since then the Winograd Committee has been put into place and is
expected to announce its findings next month. There are calls for the
findings to be made public. Ahead of its publication the Chief of
Staff Dan Halutz has resigned, yet leaks from the interrogations by
the Winograd Committee indicate that Halutz has put most of the blame
on the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister.
The trial of the Minister of Justice is coming to an end and its
findings will be made public.
A few days ago, in a public speech Israeli President Moshe Katsav asked parliament to relieve him
temporarily of his duties to fight a rape charge, President Katsav
stated that if Attorney General Mazuz decides to indict him, he would
step down.
While Israelis bemoan the current state of affairs and level charges
of corruption at its ministers and legislators it should be pointed
out that the wheels of justice are grinding and efforts are being
made to redress the wrongs.
Economies, if they are to function effectively, require political
stability. The current political rumblings would be expected to have
a negative effect on Israel's economy. Many countries have seen
economies crash while their political echelons tottered. Israel
appears to be the exception, especially in light of the experience of
a war whose aims were not realized.
Having lived through the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 we
felt confident that the troubled house of Israel would be put in
order.
Yet throughout this traumatic period, Israel's economy continues to
boom. Expectations are that in 2007 the economy will grow by a robust
5%. $1.6 billion of venture capital money was injected into the
Israeli high tech sector. Twenty companies succeeded in initial
public offerings. The number of merger and acquisition deals has set
a new record. Israel's high tech universe appears to have a life of
its own and is undeterred by political turmoil.
By late spring we should see all inquiries to be concluded and
undoubtedly changes will be made at the highest echelons of
Government. ÊHowever, we continue to be confident that Israel's
economy spearheaded by its high-tech will continue to thrive. The
demand for personnel is strong and there is no indication that the
flow of investment capital will cease.
Laboratory equipment maker BioView Ltd. (TASE:BIOV) announced that it
had received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market
its "Duet" automated scanning imaging workstation in the US for a
further indication on top of those that have already been approved.
The automated system will now also be used to detect the Her2/neu
gene, which is expressed in abnormally high levels among some breast
cancer patients.
Studies have shown that metastatic breast cancer, in which the
Her2/neu gene has a substantial presence, is an exceptionally
aggressive form of cancer but also one, which will respond to
treatment with Herceptin. A cancer in which this gene is not overtly
expressed will not respond to this drug. Testing is therefore of key
importance in the process of treating breast cancer patients, and the
company says its new procedure will enable her2/neu levels to be
measured more accurately, and it will also serve as a complementary
procedure to the manual testing methods that laboratories currently
use.