INVESTORS SAY ISRAELI ECONOMY STANDS TO GAIN FROM WARMER TREATMENT JEWISH STATE WILL RECEIVE FROM TRUMP:
Posted onAccording to the American MarketWatch web-site report, exchange-traded funds that track the Israeli equity market have flourished since Donald Trump won the Nov. 2016 presidential election. "The Trump administration has repeatedly signaled that it is going to treat Israel as a major USA ally and strategic asset. While the Obama administration maintained security ties between the countries, you didn’t always get this kind of language,” MarketWatch quoted Steven Schoenfeld - chief investment officer of BlueStar Indexes - as saying. "With a closer relationship, Israel will benefit not only in terms of investor perception, but also tangibly.” Schoenfeld further noted that the Israeli technology and defense stocks are in the highest demand. "If the Trump administration moves forward with its own initiatives on border security, military spending or intelligence, Israeli companies are likely to benefit from that,” he said. "The Israeli tech scene is second only to Silicon Valley, and it includes many of the biggest cybersecurity and ‘actionable intelligence’ companies that trade. The focus on closer security ties between the USA and Israel may mean bigger orders for Israel’s military or the militaries of its allies.” Any Trump administration policy initiatives regarding the peace process with the Palestinians, Schoenfeld stated, will have "minimal impact” on the Israeli economy. "There could be strife, but every time there’s geopolitical issues like that the market takes a short-term hit and brushes it off,” he said. "If there’s civil unrest, that doesn’t mean Check Point will export less software.” The report was published the same day Trump met with visiting PM Netanyahu at the White House. (Algemeiner)