Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

		Israel's Week in Business & Technology for week ended April 29 The week's top stories Contents Bank of Israel limits variable rate mortgages Bank of Israel leaves interest rate unchanged Unemployment falls to 6%, near all-time low Egyptian pipeline attack again stops gas flow Alcatel Lucent opens global cloud unit in Israel Better Place to begin electric car sales in August Getty Images acquires PicScout for $20m Idan Ofer leads peace delegation to Ramallah Start-ups and VC Information technology Healthcare Defense and aerospace Real estate Cleantech Energy Water Legal Betting and gaming Financial services Tourism and aviation Company results Capital markets Economy Features and analysis Start-ups and VC Wound cure co MacroCure raises $13m Viola Equity Partners invested $10 million, and current investors Pontifax and Docor invested $3 million. Social media co Buzzilla raises $1m Information technology Alcatel Lucent opens global cloud unit in Israel Alcatel Lucent appointed Dor Skuler, 34, as VP cloud enablement to manage the center. Getty Images acquires PicScout for $20m Google offers NIS 7m for modu's patents Mellanox launches new gigabit switch Healthcare EU regulator probes Teva sleep drug deal There are suspicions that Teva and Cephalon worked together to keep Provigil out of the European market. Teva reopens Californian injectable products facility Teva's US lobbying spending soars RedHill wins FDA orphan drug status for Crohn's treatment Corindus Vascular Robotics signs Philips collaboration deal FDA approves Taro's Canadian pharmaceutical facility D Medical units win Canadian certification for diabetes devices Compugen unveils new program to find better cancer drugs Can-Fite lab trial finds drug suppresses JC virus Stent co ITGI jumps on positive coronary artery results Defense and aerospace Defense co Arotech files $35m Nasdaq shelf prospectus The company will use proceeds from the offerings for general business purposes, R&D, production, and acquisitions. Real estate Industrial Buildings to sell Toronto property at a loss The company sold the Kipling residential complex for C$44.5 million. Cleantech Better Place to begin electric car sales in August The company has reportedly closed its visitors center at the Glilot Junction to convert it into a sales center. Better Place confirms pact with China Southern Power Grid Co. Energy Egyptian pipeline attack again stops gas flow An unidentified armed gang attacked the pipeline near El Arish, which carries natural gas to Israel and Jordan. Ampal CFO: Egyptian gas will flow in 2 weeks Egyptian gas halt costs Israel $1.5m daily Infrastructures minister: We won't reopen Egypt gas agreement Landau: We'll speed up Tamar field gas pipeline construction Mubarak questioned on Israel gas deal Noble Energy reports 61% rise in Israeli gas sales Givot to begin oil well production tests in June Water Negev to get new water recycling plant The project is being developed jointly by the Defense Ministry and Ramat Negev Regional Council. Legal Ramat Gan mayor to be indicted for bribery Zvi Bar's indictment will be subject to a hearing before State Prosecutor Moshe Lador for Bar in a few months. Betting and gaming Playtech reports revenue growth amid gambling uncertainties Playtech's gross revenue rose 7% to €46.6 million for the first quarter. Financial services Harel Insurance affiliates with Germany's HDI Gerling Harel's business clients who operate abroad can receive services from HDI Gerling. "We warned the banks, but they didn't listen" Tourism and aviation Arkia to halt Saturday leasing for El Al Israir is considering a similar move, which would mean El Al could no longer operate Saturday flights. Company results Amdocs reports stronger than expected results The business support systems company predicts even higher revenue and earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter. Mellanox reports record revenue after Voltaire merger Clicksoftware to distribute first-ever dividend CEVA posts 42% revenue growth, raises guidance Capital markets Deutsche Bank: Markets overreacted on Teva Merrill Lynch slashed its target price for Teva to $58, still well above its Nasdaq close on Monday of $45.71. Barclays sees Teva's share price rising 52% Fortissimo to raise $250-300m third fund Ampal to buy back $10m in bonds as prices plummet Economy Bank of Israel limits variable rate mortgages From May 5, only one third of the total mortgage taken can be at a variable interest rate, making the loan 1% more expensive. Bank of Israel leaves interest rate unchanged Unemployment falls to 6%, near all-time low Idan Ofer leads peace delegation to Ramallah Moody's leaves Israel's rating unchanged on security fears Features and analysis Teva's credibility gap Positive statements from Teva, and analysts, are not convincing investors. Unchanged interest rate could prove expensive There is no solution other than higher interest rates to the problems that the Israeli economy now faces. Egyptian gas sabotage hands victory to Tshuva In December, Yosef Maiman and EMG had $15 billion in contracts for Egyptian gas, while Tamar only had three letters of intent for $10 billion. Fischer scores a mortgage bulls-eye The banks have a variable rate mortgage portfolio of NIS 127.5 billion. The season for Netanyahu The prime minister's penchant for doing nothing is just what we need at the moment.