Exactly the news that foreign airlines did not want to hear
What the crisis at Ben Gurion Airport will do to foreign companies. A suspicion of a new affair at Assuta. And the change in the company Federer is invested in. A spotlight on several matters on the agenda.
Aviation | Exactly the news that foreign airlines did not want to hear
After three years of war, and another war, and another one, in recent months foreign airlines have begun to return to Israel. Just in the last few weeks, the Swiss SWISS, the German Condor, and Brussels Airlines have landed here.
The Dutch KLM will also return next week, and all these join the cherry on top - the American United and Delta, which are expected to return in September and change the flight map to the USA.
Although the Israeli market is very profitable for many companies, certainly those from the USA, it is not very simple to convince them to return here. Take, for example, one of the largest low-cost companies in Europe, Ryanair, which has not been here for more than a year, or American Airlines, which only recently announced that it will not return to Israel before March 2027.
One can understand them. It is not simple to deal within the unstable field called the Middle East.
And yet, companies are returning to Israel in a storm. But now, when there is perhaps a feeling that the Middle East is stabilizing slightly, troubles arrive that the companies did not expect: check-in counters at Ben Gurion Airport are locking, companies providing ground services receive an order to stop working, and chaos reigns. Precisely now, at the peak of the summer rush, the workers' committee of Ben Gurion Airport decides to signal to everyone that there is no one to rely on.
This strike hits first and foremost tens of thousands of passengers who were delayed and postponed at the airport. But in a broader view, it hits the reliability of Israel's airport, our ability as a country to signal to the world that everything is normal here. It turns out that what our enemies did not do, our committees are doing. This strike is exactly the news that foreign airlines did not want to hear. Hopefully, it will not be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Alon Perel
Health | The failure at Assuta shakes the parents
Another case of genetic mismatch between an IVF baby and its parents was discovered this week at the Assuta network. A woman who identified physical differences between her two children, who were supposedly conceived from the same sperm donor, conducted a home genetic test and it was found that they are only half-siblings.
It is unclear if the mix-up occurred at the company from which the sperm was purchased, or during the fertilization at Assuta Ramat HaHayal. This case irritates the already painful wound of the Sofia girl affair, who was born after a mix-up at Assuta Rishon LeZion, in which the embryo was returned to the wrong mother's womb.
After the case, the Ministry of Health conducted a comprehensive inspection of Assuta Rishon, and concluded that the load of activity caused an erosion of controls intended to ensure the safety of patients in fertilization and the identity of the embryos. The ministry ordered a 50% reduction in activity at the center. However, in 2023, problems were also discovered at Assuta Ramat HaHayal: a woman became pregnant from sperm that was not her husband's, and the eggs of two patients dried up and they were forced to repeat the painful and expensive retrieval process.
The Ministry of Health continues to monitor fertility units, but the State Comptroller noted in a 2023 report that not enough systemic lessons were learned regarding the system's work under load. Last May, another inspection committee was established for Assuta Ramat HaHayal. But does it help? In the current case, the eldest child was born about 3 years ago and the second a month ago - meaning after the events in Rishon LeZion and Ramat HaHayal and their inspection.
Among IVF parents, concerns have arisen that these cases are the tip of the iceberg, and that other children do not truly belong genetically to their parents. Alongside the desire to know for sure, a double fear arises: that a genetic disconnect from the child will be discovered, and that the biological parents will suddenly appear.
Gali Weinreb
Retail | Federer is no longer a billionaire
Legendary tennis player Roger Federer has lost, at least on paper, the title of "billionaire". The one responsible for this is one of his successful investments outside the tennis court: the Swiss sports shoe manufacturer On.
The company's stock plummeted last week by about 20% after it presented weaker sales performance than investors expected for the quarter. Following the decline, it was estimated that Federer's fortune dropped to about 952 million dollars, after he lost at least 50 million dollars within hours.
The numbers themselves are far from indicating a company in crisis. On finished the second quarter with sales of 850 million Swiss francs, an increase of 13.5% compared to the corresponding quarter, and a transition from a loss to a net profit of 105 million francs. The problem was mainly that sales were lower than analysts' forecasts, and in America, which accounts for more than half of the revenue, the growth rate slowed down.
The turmoil on the stock exchange comes just as On is preparing for a significant change in its operations in Israel. From January 2027, the distribution of the brand will move from the hands of ING and Renoir to The Active Division, a venture of George Horesh's Union Group and Super-Pharm. The move includes opening the first flagship store of On. This transition is not just a replacement of a franchisee. It reflects a broader change that On is undergoing in the world: from a brand that grew rapidly also through wide distribution in third-party stores, to a company that seeks to control much more the places where it is sold, the prices, and the customer experience.
The paradox is that this strategy is intended to keep On as a premium brand over time, but in the short term, it is a nuisance to investors. The company prefers to give up some of the growth in the wholesale channel and not enter a discount war against competitors. In the capital market, after years in which On was accustomed to growing at a dizzying pace and taking market share from Nike and Adidas, even a quarter with double-digit growth and record profitability is no longer necessarily enough.
Nevo Shapir
