Israel Financial News

Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Israel. Undeterred by the region's unrest, these devotees undertook a journey to the Holy Sepulchre, which houses Christ's tomb, driven by faith. For centuries, Christians worldwide have flocked to this revered site, and for Keralites, especially Christian faithfuls, its appeal remains strong. The data from the Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) reveals that 9,600 Indian tourists visited Israel in 2024, with 50 per cent of them travelling for pilgrimage--most of them from Kerala.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman prides himself on strong relations with President Trump, but Mr. Trump’s second term is posing serious dilemmas for the young Saudi leader, known as MBS.

Gymshark has reportedly settled a lawsuit with a US influencer who had alleged that the company terminated a sponsorship deal with her after her pro-Israel views attracted a backlash on social media. The lawsuit was filed in the British High Court by Alix Earle, who has 7 million followers on TikTok. She also has more than 4 million Instagram followers.

Muhlenberg College learned in January 2024 — as pro-Palestinian protests were sweeping campuses across the United States — that it was under investigation for discriminating against Jewish students, the small liberal arts institution in Pennsylvania took action. The college fired a tenured professor who had been accused of targeting Jewish students, and the U.S. Education Department, satisfied with Muhlenberg's response to complaints of antisemitism on campus, ended its investigation. So Muhlenberg's inclusion on a list of 60 universities and colleges under investigation by the Education Department for antisemitism was «not anticipated,» Todd Lineburger, a spokesperson for Muhlenberg, said. «To our knowledge, Muhlenberg is not on the DOE list of institutions with open investigations,» Lineburger said. «We have received no further information from the Department of Education and continue our robust efforts to remain fully compliant with all laws and regulations.» The March 10 letter to 60 institutions, signed by the Education Department's acting civil rights chief Craig Trainor, focused on antisemitic activity following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. It warned that Donald Trump's administration would not tolerate antisemitic acts — and institutions that did risked losing federal government funding.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. TEN years and a lifetime ago, Binyamin Netanyahu offered a stark vision of the future. Israel’s prime minister told a parliamentary committee that there could never be peace with the Palestinians.

Videos that appeared to be authentic showed hundreds of people taking part in a protest in the heavily destroyed northern town of Beit Lahiya on Tuesday. People held signs saying «Stop the war,» «We refuse to die» and «The blood of our children is not cheap.» There were calls for more protests on Wednesday. At least one was held in the hard-hit Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, where dozens of men chanted «Out, out out! Hamas get out!» «We are sick of the bombing, killing and displacement,» said Ammar Hassan, who took part in the protest on Tuesday. He said it started as an anti-war protest with a few dozen people but swelled to more than 2,000, with people chanting against Hamas.

However, foreign fund inflows supported the rupee at lower levels.

Columbia University over its handling of student protests against Israel's war in Gaza, much of the financial pain fell on researchers a train ride away from the school's campus, working on things like curing cancer and studying COVID-19's impact on children. The urgency of salvaging ongoing research projects at the university's labs and world-renowned medical center was one factor in Columbia's decision last week to bow to the Republican administration's unprecedented demands for changes in university policy as a condition of getting funding restored. The Ivy League university announced Friday that it would overhaul its student disciplinary process, ban protesters from wearing masks, bar demonstrations from academic buildings, adopt a new definition of antisemitism and put its Middle Eastern studies program under the supervision of a vice provost who would have a say over curriculum and hiring. The university's decision to accede to nearly all of the Trump administration's demands outraged some faculty members, who say Columbia has sacrificed academic freedom. The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers, representing members of Columbia's faculty, filed a lawsuit Tuesday saying the funding revocation violated free speech laws. Scientific and medical researchers are appalled that their work was drawn into the debate to begin with.

Columbia University must comply with its commitments to address anti-Israel activism to regain $400 million in federal funding. Education Secretary Linda McMahon emphasized that the school must follow through on its promises.

Strategic Defense Initiative, was mocked as «Star Wars» and ultimately shelved. Now, under President Donald Trump’s directive, that idea has been reborn as the «Golden Dome.» Announced in a congressional address, Trump positioned the initiative as a critical step in bolstering national security. “As a first step, I’m asking Congress to fund a state-of-the-art ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence shield to protect our homeland. All made in the USA,” he declared. Unlike Israel’s Iron Dome, which focuses on short-range threats, the Golden Dome is designed to counter a wide range of missile attacks, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and hypersonic weapons. The challenge? The sheer size of the US means covering the entire country is a vastly more complex undertaking.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MANY KNOW the mortification of sending the wrong text message to the wrong person. But when the fat thumb is that of America’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, the message is a detailed military plan to bomb Yemen and the recipient is a prominent journalist, the error is not just a cause of shame but potentially a serious breach of national security.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new national-security team are planning a major ground offensive in Gaza in the belief that capturing and holding swaths of territory will allow them to finally defeat Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, according to people familiar with the government’s thinking. On Sunday, Israel sent infantry into the northern part of the Gaza Strip and areas around Rafah in the south.

Jessica Aber, the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, on Sunday found dead at her home in Virginia. She was 43-year-old, as per a report. The cause of death, which will be declared by Virginia medical examiner, is yet to be ascertained, Independent reported. Aber was nominated to the Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia by former President Joe Biden during his tenure, according to the Independent report. Aber resigned a day before President Donald Trump was sworn in for the second time in January. “I’ve had the privilege of spending my career as a prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia working alongside talented, hard-working public servants who manage matters affecting citizens here and across the world,” said Aber in the January statement of her resignation. Aber’s time in office was not without its challenges. The Eastern District of Virginia, often referred to as the «Rocket Docket» due to its efficient handling of cases, was tasked with an increasing number of complex and high-stakes cases.

Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, the militant group said, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000. After two months of relative calm in the war, Gazans have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign on Tuesday against Hamas. Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early on Sunday, as Israeli planes hit several targets in those areas in what witnesses said was an escalation of the attacks that began earlier in the week. At least 30 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis so far on Sunday, health authorities said. Those killed included three municipal employees, medics said. Hamas said the airstrike on Khan Younis killed Bardaweel and his wife. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Israel’s military is expanding its ground operations across the Gaza Strip, with troops operating in key locations across the enclave in an effort to pressure Hamas as talks to stop the fighting and release more hostages have stalled. Israeli troops pressed into the northern Gaza border town of Beit Hanoun on Saturday to lay the groundwork for expanding Israel’s security buffer, a several-hundred-meter-wide zone the military has carved out within Gaza that spans its border with Israel.

Spot gold closed with a loss of around 0.68% at $3023 on March 21, as the US Dollar Index firmed up. Profit booking and tentative selling sent the metal lower. However, with a weekly gain of around 1.5%, it was up for the third straight week. Earlier in the week, gold rose to a fresh record high of $3057 on March 20, following the FOMC monetary policy decision delivered on March 19. The Committee’s new projections showed lower growth and higher unemployment and inflation in 2025 compared to its previous estimates. Additionally, the Fed's plan to reduce the pace of quantitative tightening (QT) also boosted the metal. Spot gold traded between $2982 and $3057 in the week ending March 21.

Israeli strike killed a senior Hamas political leader in the Gaza Strip overnight, the militant group said early Sunday. Iran-backed rebels in Yemen who are allied with Hamas meanwhile launched another missile at Israel, setting off air raid sirens.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it instructed the army to respond forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah is based. Israel's army said six rockets were fired toward Metula, a town along the border with Lebanon. Three crossed into Israel and were intercepted. The army said it «cannot confirm the identity of the organisation that fired the rockets.» It said it struck Hezbollah command centres and dozens of rocket launchers. An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese village of Touline killed five people, including a child, and wounded 10 others, including two children, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported. Another Israeli strike Saturday night hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first attack on the city since the ceasefire took effect November 27. And a strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village along the border with Syria wounded five people, according to the NNA.

Speaking at a Business Today event here, Jaishankar also said that after decades of hearing the virtues of globalisation, the world today is grappling with the reality of industrial policies, export controls and tariff wars. He said that ensuring a favourable energy environment for coming decades is understandably one of India's key diplomatic objectives. Beyond fossil fuels, it extends to developing and deploying renewables on a large scale as well as exploring the potential of small modular reactors, he said. «The fifth biggest economy of the world must necessarily develop a broad and diverse set of energy relationships,» Jaishankar said.

Israeli military successfully eliminated Hamas' southern Gaza military intelligence chief, Osama Tabash, in an airstrike conducted on Thursday. In a statement, the military named the Hamas leader as Osama Tabash. It said he was also the head of the militant group's surveillance and targeting unit. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

But the positive outlook continues, with forecasts of US Federal Reserve rate cuts and persistent geopolitical tensions underpinning demand for the metal. At 08:59 a.m. ET (1259 GMT), spot prices of gold today were at $3,034.02 an ounce, down 0.3%. US gold futures were also down a bit by 0.1% to $3,040.90 an ounce, as mentioned in a report by Reuters. In spite of the slight pullback, gold is set for a third straight weekly gain, up 1.7% this week.