World News | Israel to weigh moves after Silicon Valley bank collapse

JERUSALEM, March 12 (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the government will assess the impact of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Israeli companies and decide whether to provide them with aid.

Israel has a vibrant high-tech industry, and local media said on Sunday that hundreds of local companies could be affected by the failure of a Silicon Valley bank.

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Israeli business newspaper Globes said the bank’s collapse was “closing the oxygen pipeline” for the industry, which was considered “the main financing institution for Israeli companies”.

Silicon Valley Bank is the 16th largest bank in the United States and primarily serves skilled workers and venture capital-backed companies. Its collapse was the largest bank failure since the collapse of Washington Mutual in 2008.

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The bank has a branch in Tel Aviv. It is unclear how many local companies have done business with the bank.

Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday that he and senior Israeli officials would consider “whether it is necessary to take action to help Israeli companies struggling with the collapse of SVB, mainly in terms of cash flow.”

A day earlier, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he had assembled a team to track the issue and assess the impact of the bank failure on the Israeli economy.

Israel’s banking regulator, Yair Avidan, said Israel was “closely reviewing the case and following developments”.

The bank collapses come as Israeli tech leaders and economists warn that Netanyahu’s government has proposed sweeping changes to the country’s judicial system that could drive away investment and impact the economy.

Israel’s currency, the shekel, has lost value in the past two months since the government announced its plans, in part as companies moved funds abroad amid concerns over judicial reform. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)