Ynet’s weekly roundup highlighted several widely read Israeli business stories, led by the final shutdown of Pratt & Whitney’s Blade Technology plant in Nahariya after more than 50 years. The company decided in 2022 to close the factory because of financial losses, and this week sent out the first dismissal notices to the remaining 600 workers. The site, founded by Stef Wertheimer, will close completely in a few weeks. Even after other companies expressed interest in buying the plant and keeping the staff on, the decision was not reversed. One veteran employee said, “I was not surprised this would happen, but when they hand you the letter, you get a blow in the stomach that cannot be explained.” She said the factory had given workers security until “the bomb fell on us in December 2022.” Officials estimate the closure could hit about 5,000 residents across western Galilee, including transport and logistics suppliers that receive about NIS 1 million a month. The land is planned for residential and commercial towers.
Another featured story followed Imgaba Ahizomungia, a 36-year-old Nigerian migrant who won half a million euros on a scratch card in Italy but could not initially collect it. He left Nigeria in 2016 after refusing to join a secret cult led by his father, spent more than a decade making his way to Europe, including two years in captivity in Libya, and later settled in Italy. He bought the winning ticket for 5 euros, but was trapped in a bureaucratic loop, since claiming the prize required a bank account and opening one required residency, which he could not prove without financial independence. On June 4, a court in Ancona granted him legal status after his lawyer argued that his Italian, his work in an African food shop he opened, and his financial independence entitled him to residency. “I prayed for this moment since I arrived in Italy,” he said. “Getting the permit is more important to me than winning the money. I want to work and contribute to society.” He can now open a bank account and claim the prize formally.
The roundup also noted severe damage to Israel’s watermelon industry, where over 1,000 dunams have already been approved for destruction, about 10% of the country’s watermelon acreage. Unusual cloud cover and cold in March damaged flowering and cut yields, especially in the Northern Jordan Valley and Emek HaMaayanot, while a virus affecting gourds spread at five to six times the normal annual rate. The virus leaves watermelons starchy and unripe in appearance, making them unmarketable. KANAT, the agricultural natural-disaster insurance fund, is compensating farmers for preemptive destruction because harvesting costs about NIS 2,000 per dunam. The problem has also appeared in the Jordan Valley, the Lower Galilee and the Gaza envelope, and officials warn that more losses could emerge this summer.
The weekly selection also covered a sharp drop in Tel Aviv stocks after the details of a likely Iran-U.S. deal were reported, which investors in Israel see as a strategic setback. The Tel Aviv 125 index fell 1.72% yesterday and is down 9.5% from its peak, while defense shares have dropped 7.2% since the start of the week. Market participants said hopes for a new Middle East, a weakened Iranian regime, and Saudi normalization with the Abraham Accords had faded, prompting a correction. A new Israel Electric Authority plan for data centers also hit energy stocks, because developers would have to pay millions of shekels a year to reserve a place in the electricity queue, and the authority would be able to disconnect data centers for up to six hours. Shares in Meshek Energy fell 12.6% and Doral Energy 11.84%. Separately, the roundup cited criticism over a deep budget crisis in Mitzpe Ramon, where Mayor Eliya Winter warned at a Knesset Interior Committee hearing that he may soon be unable to collect trash or pay employees. The town, now about 6,000 residents, has a yearly deficit of NIS 15 million, or 16% of its budget, after losing its “immigrant city” status in 2016. Winter said he had asked the Interior Ministry for help and got no answer, while the Finance Ministry said the town’s finances were relatively better than many other municipalities. Committee chair MK Yitzhak Kroizer accused government ministries of using responsible local authorities as a model while pressuring their leaders.
