A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

March 14, 2008 S'derot Hit Again

Qassam rockets rained down on S'derot yesterday and today, as expected. It was clear that after what happened in Bethlehem Thursday that the Islamic Jihad would respond. Whether of not this end whatever understanding seemed to theoretically be in place, is hard to say. Yesterday, Defense Minister Barak made it clear that the fact Israel took the action they did in the West Bank is proof that there is no agreement. No one was hurt in yesterday and todayís fire.

The dollar reached a new low against the Shekel yesterday, trading at 3.35. The Bank of Israel of Israel intervened in foreign currency trading, for the first time in 11 years, by buying dollars. This continued today. Exporters have been complaining about their competitive position for months now. As long as the strengthening of the shekel verses the dollar was merely a function of the weakening of the dollar visa via the rest of the currency of the world, it seemed the Bank of Israel felt there was nothing that could be done. Yesterday, the Shekel was strengthening against the dollar independent of other currencies.

Israeli channel 10 ran a major story tonight, on the proliferate personnel spending by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. The piece concentrates on a particular week that Netanyahu spent in London last year. The hotel bill came to 140,000 shekels. The trip was paid by various organizations, such as Israel Bonds. The news will not do Netanyahuís political career much good.