Lev Leviev loses out

Not such a good week for Lev Leviev. The billionaire lost his place as Israel's top diamond exporter. Number one spot, published by Diamond Supervisor Shmuel Mordechai, went to Leo Schachter. His company exported $403m worth in 2011.

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Jay-Z invests in Israeli technology

It may seem like an unlikely pairing but US hip-hop star Jay-Z is the new face of Israel/US start-up Duracell Powermat. Jay-Z, whose wife Beyoncé this month gave birth to their first child, will serve as the new spokesman for the company and as an investor.

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Who's boss at Leumi?

The race to succeed Galia Maor as CEO of Bank Leumi took off this month. It seems there are three more candidates in addtition to frontrunners, deputy CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminach and Roni Hizkiyahu, former Supervisor of Banks.

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Salmon firm's Olympic slice

David Cameron gave a ringing message of support for Israel this week, telling the community's biggest charity dinner that after more than 100 rockets had been fired into Israel from Gaza in one year, the country had been "within its rights to search vessels bringing cargo into Gaza".

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Zabludowicz's boost to Israeli cyber surfers

Poju Zabludowicz's private investment group Tamares has been named the winning bidder by the government for Israel's second Mediterranean telecomes pipeline.

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End of era for Anglo American

Diamond billionaire Nicky Oppen-heimer is retiring as non-executive director of Anglo American, after 37 years with the company.

The South African's announcements brings an end to an era for the firm, one of the world's largest mining companies, which was founded by Oppenheimer's grandfather Sir Ernest Oppenheimer as there will no longer be a family member on the board.

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leeds accountant lands top director gong

Leeds businessman Colin Glass has been crowned the non-executive director of the year.

Mr Glass was honoured at the Grant Thornton Quoted Company Awards organised by Growth Company Investor magazine. He runs accountancy firm Winburn Glass Norfolk (WGN) and is a non-executive director of the AIM-listed Surgical Innovations plc, GETECG plc and Straight plc, in addition to several private firms. He is chairman of the British-Israel Chamber of Commerce (North East) and a member of the Etz Chaim Synagogue.

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Ben Hur gets another 'Ostcar'

Ben Hur may have won 11 Oscars but his namesake has picked up two 'Ostcars' (Outstanding Services to Compliance and Regulation). Ben Hur, of NIBC Bank NV, was named Best Added Value Compliance Officer at the Compliance Register's annual awards ceremony last month. In 2004, he was named the Best UK Money Laundering Reporting Officer, making him the first compliance officer to have won two Ostcars.

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Party time for Israeli bank

The Israel Discount Bank, one of Israel's leading financial institutions, marked ten years in London with an impressive do at the Millbank Tower (no students invited we understand). Around 200 guests gathered at the venue. Among them were Avram Grant, Lord Alliance and the Zakay brothers.

IDB was founded in 1935. It has since become one of the top three banks in Israel with activities across the world.

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Shabbat-friendly lifts are on their way up

A leading lift company has secured a contract with the United Synagogue to install a lift in St John's Wood Synagogue, north London, that is in compliance with Shabbat law.

The deal with Amalgamated Lifts follows the success of a previous contract for a disabled lift at Stanmore and Cannons Park Synagogue. The lifts operate automatically from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Additionally, it must still comply with the strict rules and regulations in keeping with disabled lift installations in the UK.

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Taking a bet on Anglo Jewry

Traders take note. Financial spread betting company WorldSpreads has launched a Hebrew translated version of its website with a desk specifically dedicated to the Israeli Hebrew speaking market.

Senior sales trader David Garbacz, who is heading up the desk, says: "We are convinced that there's enormous potential amongst the Anglo Jewish community for this type of product and the launch of the Hebrew translated version of our site shows the commitment WorldSpreads are putting behind this community in particular, a market previously been unrecognised by spread betting firms."

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Barclays to open in Israel

Barclays Bank looks set to be opening a branch in Israel.

According to Israeli financial newspaper Globes, representatives of Barclays submitted the paperwork to the Bank of Israel last month Banking Supervision Department, and approval is expected quickly.

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Still tweet for Sugar

Lord Sugar now has more than 85,000 followers on Twitter. The Apprentice star joined Twitter in August and has been pretty active on the social networking site ever since.

The peer is confident of attracting more followers and has even offered a free copy of his autobiography What You See Is What You Get to anyone who correctly guesses when he will reach 100,000. On Tuesday, he tweeted: "Those guessing when I will reach 100k followers to win signed book please include date and time". Yes Lord Sugar.

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Guess who's wowing the property world

Who would have thought it? Israel has emerged as an unlikely force in the world’s property market, becoming one of the fastest growing nations. Global Property Guide, a trade magazine that monitors the housing market, reports that Israeli house prices in the second quarter of 2010 rose sixth-fastest out of 36 countries. Four of the top five, including Singapore and Latvia, were rebounding from sharp price drops. And over the past two years, Israeli prices have shot up faster than anywhere else in the world.

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Shock boost for Israel

Israel has exceeded all expectations to grow by 4.7% in the second quarter of 2010, according the Central Bureau of Statistics. Due to the crisis in Europe, predictions were that the economy would only grow by 2.9%. Israel's surprisingly strong annual growthhas been partly due to a rise in exports this year.

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Super times for super-rich

Veteran estate agent Trevor Abrahmsohn could be forgiven for rubbing his hands together with excitement. The founder of Glentree Estates, Mr Abrahmsohn is known for selling some of the nation's most expensive "trophy" homes and, with One Hyde Park, a penthouse in one of London's most opulent developments, selling for a record-breaking £140 million, the market for "trophy homes" appears to be bucking the wider property slump.

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Annabel does the business

Mazeltov to Annabel Karmel. The best-selling author of books on children's nutrition has picked up a top business award.

Sponsored by Real Business, the First Women awards were held in association with Lloyds Banking Group. She said: "As far as business goes, this is the biggest award I have won."

Ms Karmel has previously been honoured with an MBE and a Mothers & Baby lifetime achievement award.

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