Israel Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. TEL AVIV—Israel’s parliament passed legislation to sever ties with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, curtailing its ability to work in Gaza and the West Bank at a time when it is leading the humanitarian response to the war in Gaza. The laws passed late Monday effectively ban Unrwa—known formally as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East—from operating in Israeli territory and forbid Israeli state authorities from having contact with it.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s reliance on imported crude oil is getting worse. The latest government data shows that the country imported 88.2% of the oil it consumed in the first half of 2024-25, up from 87.6% a year earlier.

Oil prices edged up on Tuesday, after a sharp plunge in the previous session, as a U.S. plan to purchase oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve provided support while investors remained focused on developments in the Middle East. Brent crude futures climbed 44 cents, or 0.6%, to $71.86 a barrel by 0025 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $67.83 a barrel, up 45 cents, or 0.7%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, has had a bad week. Elon Musk’s X suspended his new Hebrew-language account, and the Israel Defense Forces unleashed a devastating series of air raids against his country’s military infrastructure.

U.S. stocks are rising as gains for Big Tech make up for slides in oil-and-gas stocks after the price of crude tumbled sharply

Global oil prices are falling sharply after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared

Israeli soldiers captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants during a raid in Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, the military said on Monday. Gaza health officials and Hamas have denied any militant presence at the hospital, which Israeli forces stormed on Friday and left on Saturday. «The soldiers apprehended approximately 100 terrorists from the compound, including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians. Inside the hospital, they found weapons, terror funds, and intelligence documents,» the military said.

Benjamin Netanyahu said he's open to a short truce in the country's war with Hamas that would lead to the release of a small number of the around 100 hostages still held by the militant group in Gaza. Netanyahu's remarks followed a meeting between his top negotiator and senior Qatari and US officials in Doha on Monday, aimed at reviving stalled cease-fire talks following Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this month. Discussions centered on a plan proposed by Egypt, one of the mediators between the warring sides. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday proposed a two-day suspension of hostilities and the freeing of four hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Middle East, India has solid oil reserves sufficient to last 12 days, with additional supplies in refineries that can sustain the country for about 18 days. However, any breakdown in the Strait of Hormuz lasting beyond 30 days could have significant lagging effects on the global economy and Indian markets, said former Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai on Monday. “Moreover, there is concern that if a war spreads into the Gulf, it could affect the eight million expatriates living there,” he added. The diplomat made these observations while discussing “The Middle East Quagmire: Will the Iran-Israel War Spiral Further?” at an event organized by Synergia, a Bengaluru-based think tank. Speaking about the recent developments and Israel's decision to scale back its attacks on Iran, Mathai believes that US influence remains a key stabilizer in the region, as its presence deters large-scale conflict. “While Israel has formidable military and technological capacities, its vulnerabilities are showing. It currently needs U.S. assistance and must therefore rely on maintaining a solid line of communication with the decision-making authorities in Washington,” Mathai explained, adding that recent figures indicate as much as 40% of the next supply of missiles for the Iron Dome and Arrow will need to come from American sources.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the West Bank’s economy could collapse if Israel doesn’t preserve its banking relationship with Palestinian financial institutions in the territory it occupies, highlighting another potential source of instability as Israel also fights foes in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yellen and several of her global counterparts urged the Israeli leader’s government to approve a waiver that would continue to allow Palestinian and Israeli banks to correspond.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has expressed concerns about the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the growing cooperation between US adversaries including Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. “The risk is extraordinary,” he said. “World War III has already begun. You already have battles on the ground being coordinated in multiple countries," he said at the Institute of International Finance’s annual meeting in Washington DC. Jamie Dimon has given a stern warning about geopolitical threats that could hurt the global economy. “Recent events show that conditions are treacherous and getting worse,” he wrote in a press release. According to a report in Business Insider, Jamie Dimon said US adversaries want to topple the world order, and the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts could explode into a new world war.

The recent surge in the prices was a momentum play following an escalation in the Middle East conflict, with Israel preparing to act on Iran’s missile attack. The US Fed Reserve’s interest rate cut, central banks' gold buying, upcoming US election and geopolitical risk are continuing to remain the key supportive factors for bullion prices. Investors may look for accumulation on any decline in the prices. The current market environment could be favourable for a strategic allocation in gold as an investment in the portfolio, said Tapan Patel, Fund Manager-Commodities, Tata Asset Management.

Iron Beam". «The Ministry of Defence has signed a major deal worth approximately 2 billion shekels to significantly expand procurement of the laser interception systems, 'Iron Beam,',» a statement said. The system is aimed at improving the interception of drones and other projectiles, which Hezbollah in Lebanon has fired at Israel since the start of the war in Gaza in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Israel’s airstrikes early Saturday didn’t just destroy critical Iranian military infrastructure. They also battered the reputation of Russian military equipment, which has already been pummeled by poor performance during Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. AFTER DECADES of shadow war between the Jewish State and the Islamic Republic, in the early hours of October 26th Israel carried out its first officially acknowledged attack on Iran. Dozens of warplanes flying at least 1,300km from their bases in Israel launched missiles against air-defence facilities and missile factories in three Iranian provinces, including on the outskirts of the capital, Tehran.

Israel's weekend attack on military targets in Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday. Iran previously played down Israel's air attack on Saturday, saying it caused only limited damage, while U.S. President Joe Biden called for a halt to escalation that has raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East. Speaking at a weekly televised news conference, Baghaei said: "(Iran) will use all available tools to deliver a definite and effective response to the Zionist regime (Israel)".

Khamenei on Sunday, hours after it was created. The account, tagged as @Khamenei_Heb, was taken down following a post that read, “The Zionist regime made a mistake. It erred in its calculations on Iran. We will cause it to understand what kind of strength, ability, initiative, and will the Iranian nation has.” A message on X now shows the account as suspended due to “violating X’s rules.”

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Another urgent conflict in the Middle East is playing out on the border between Syria and Jordan: a war against captagon, an amphetamine-like drug that’s taken off across the region. The drug cuts across social class and borders.

Brent crude futures were 4.2% lower and traded as cheaply as $67.80 a barrel after Israel's response to an Iranian missile attack focused, so far, on missile factories and other sites near Tehran and not on disrupting energy supplies. In Japan, the LDP which has ruled for most of the post-war years and junior coalition partner Komeito won 215 lower-house seats at Sunday's election, public broadcaster NHK reported. This falls well short of the 233 needed for a majority and the yen was squeezed since investors figured any government that emerges is likely to make a dovish shift in economic policies.

Israeli hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, the Times of Israel reported. This proposal, which includes an additional 10 days of negotiations following the release of the hostages, was presented to Israel's national security cabinet last week by Israeli Security Agency Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, Times of Israel reported citing Channel 12. While most ministers and security officials supported the idea, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir opposed it.

Vice President Kamala Harris largely offers a continuation of President Joe Biden's agenda, although she has sought more nuance on the Middle East in particular, while a return of Donald Trump would likely mean a sharp rupture from current US foreign policy. — Ukraine -