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Israeli and Palestinian stocks jump

Tel Aviv’s TA-25 index on Friday broke through the 720-point barrier for the first time, to reach 720.6, ending a week of gains since the pullout kicked off 4.9 per cent up.

The first withdrawal of Jewish settlers from occupied Palestinian territories was also welcomed by investors at the West Bank’s Nablus and Ramallah stock exchanges.

The Al-Quds (Jerusalem in Arabic) index reached a record high of 861.14, up 5.10 per cent over the week and up a staggering 310 per cent since the start of the year.

The unilateral withdrawal has also had a positive impact on Israel’s gross domestic product, which was up 4.9 per cent in the first half compared with the same period of 2004, according to the central bureau of statistics. In the second quarter, growth reached 5.6 per cent, it said.

Israeli business leader Shraga Brosh optimistically said that foreign investment in Israel “should practically quadruple” this year to reach six billion dollars.

Foreign investment tapered off with the beginning of the second Palestinian uprising or intifada in 2000 and the collapse of the hi-tech boom that had driven the Israeli economy.