israel

I spent Wednesday afternoon in Palo Alto at the public portion of the weeklong IsraelWeb Tour. The event, organized by the California Israel Chamber of Commerce, takes Israeli companies to various Silicon Valley counterparts as they look for advice, insight, and deals.

Shuly Galili, executive director of the CICC, told me that the economic crisis is definitely affecting the companies on tour. The U.S. and Israeli entrepreneurial economies act similarly to a large extent, she said, although there's a lag of a few months before whatever is happening in the U.S. affects Israeli start-ups.

The standard plan for Israeli tech companies, Galili said, is to leave their development resources in Israel but open field offices in the United States for sales and marketing as soon as possible. Due to the softness in economy, that step is being delayed. "It's not good for consumer companies," Galili said, because the U.S. is the target market for almost all Israeli start-ups.

Still, the slowdown in Israel, as it is here, is forcing companies to adopt more robust business models earlier in their lives. It's building stronger companies, although they're having to be less aggressive in how they address the U.S. market.

I was impressed with the nine companies presented to the public at the event. All were showcasing relatively mature technology, although not all of their business outlooks were as bright as their technological innovations.

Some highlights:… Read more

Correction at 9:10 a.m. PDT: The size of the average M&A deal is lower than originally reported.

Israel's high-tech merger activity fell last year, but it's IPO market took a far greater hit, according to a report released Wednesday.

The country exited the year without a single high-tech initial public offering, a first since 2003, according to the Israel Venture Capital Research Center report.

With the global economy taking a beating and the markets leaving investors running for cover, it's not surprising to see companies pulling back on IPO plans, in hopes of … Read more

Israeli venture capitalists are expected this year to raise $300 million, setting the stage for a second consecutive year of decline, according to figures released Wednesday by the IVC Research Center.

Israeli venture capital funds are expected this year to post a 62 percent decline over last year, when $793 million was raised.

And should Israeli venture capital funds generate only $300 million, it would put it on par with levels not seen since 2003 to 2004.

Last year, Israeli venture capital funds declined 30 percent over the previous year, when $1.14 billion was raised.

But despite the two … Read more

First real war, now a cyber war? The Jerusalem-based Debkafile said it was temporarily put out of action Saturday evening by a cyber attack.

It's not clear whether this was a denial of service attack. Debka, which specializes in military and political analysis, sent out a note to subscribers that both its English and Hebrew sites had been under attack "since 19:00 local time." It did not get more specific and the site's publishers were not immediately available for comment.

The announcement took place in the shadow of the week-long conflict between Israel and Hamas. … Read more

The Israel Defense Forces this week extended its airstrikes on Gaza to the Web, posting video footage of its air assault against Hamas militants on YouTube and using Twitter to spread its message.

According to various news reports, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) created its own YouTube channel carrying videos that include black-and-white aerial footage of attacks on Hamas weapon sites, and clips of Hamas terrorists loading rockets into trucks.

An IDF spokesperson said it is using the platform to "help us bring our message to the world," by offering "exclusive footage showing the IDF's operation … Read more

Nir Barkat, the founder of the BRM Group and later a prominent tech investor, is on his way to becoming Jerusalem's next mayor, according to Israeli exit polls.

Barkat, 49, now a multimillionaire, was said to have an eight-point lead over his ultra-Orthodox rival, Meir Porush, according to Israel's Channel 1. Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak is said to trail both in a distant third place.

This was Barkat's second try at becoming mayor of Jerusalem. He received 43 percent of the vote in 2003.

BRM was one of the first entities worldwide to develop antivirus software. Barkat … Read more

KIBBUTZ YIRON, Israel--"Znnnnnnnnng!"

The mechanical whine overhead forced every picker in the apple orchard to crane their heads toward its source. I didn't know it at the time, but we were watching Israel's high-tech future play out a couple of thousand feet above us.

A reconnaissance drone not much larger than your garden variety model airplane, a television camera strapped to its underside, was creeping through the sky to photograph military installations in Lebanon.

That was 26 years ago.

The "mazlat," as it was known in Hebrew, was a joint project between a … Read more

LAS VEGAS--On the second day of the Black Hat security conference, a trio of journalists turned on other journalists within the press room.

This was my ninth Black Hat in nine years, and I have lived in dread year after year that such a headline would affect me. On Thursday, CNET News was named as one of the two organizations "hacked," but I disagree that any such hack occurred.

Just before noon on Thursday, a trio of reporters from Global Security Mag sat in one of the two press rooms at Black Hat. Both rooms have a wired … Read more

This golf cart-sized, cheetah-spotted buggy could be bad news for those guys who make a living driving up and down the fence lines of Podunk facilities around the country while drinking bad coffee.

The Guardium UGV (unmanned ground system) employs state-of-the-art technologies and any number of payloads to guard places like airports, energy plants and military bases-24/7, rain or shine and without the need for 7-11 pit stops.

A joint venture between G-NUIS Unmanned Ground Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems Ltd., the Guardium is an all terrain vehicle that takes care of itself.

It uses autonomous … Read more