Haaretz

The highest average salary was among employees of the Israel Electric Corporation and the Mekorot water utility, at NIS 20,484 a month.

Employees at financial companies earned an average of NIS 16,911. Public administration workers averaged NIS 12,273, and industrial employees received NIS 11,332 per month.

Teachers and social workers remain near the bottom, at NIS 6,428 and NIS 5,312 respectively. Agriculture work pays slightly better than social work at NIS 5,524/month. At the very bottom: food and hospitality: NIS 3,965 per month on average.

If all this makes you want to take out a loan or go into overdraft – well, you know my motto: don’t. Now a rabbi has backed me up.

Ramat Gan’s Rabbi Yaakov Ariel says that those who do not have a credit balance in their bank should not overdraw.  His ruling is complex, drawing on the religious concept of a “transaction permit.” The full details are on the YNet website.

His conclusion: “Precisely in modern times, when it is credit that makes the economy’s wheels spin, we should not trample our moral values of charity and interest prohibition.”

The line up sounds very interesting:

• Darron Green will explain how Israeli banking differs from other countries
• Disgruntled customers will share their tales of woe, including Maale Adumim resident Irwin Blank
• Mercantile Bank’s Matti Munk will address some complaints
• JP economics editor Sharon Wrobel will tip us off on how to work the system

The show airs Thursday Oct. 29, between noon – 2:00 PM Israel time.

To listen, go to www.rustymikeradio.com and click on the “Listen Live” button. To join the discussion, click the “chat” button on the Rusty Mike Radio website.

If you miss the episode, it’s available as a podcast at: http://rustymikeradio.com/podcast/rm_podcasts.php?action=frontpage&search_string=nettie

Obviously I haven’t heard the show yet, but I’ll be listening!

That doesn’t mean that things will improve overnight. Unemployment generally lags behind increases in spending, as it takes time for companies to gear back up after months of sustained layoffs.

“Can we sit back and relax now? To a certain extent,” Fischer said in a separate interview with The Jerusalem Post. “But we should not exaggerate. Over the next two years we are likely to feel the repercussions of the crisis.”

How did Israel pull out so quickly? In part, because we didn’t have a sub-prime mortgage crisis. I used to bemoan the fact that we couldn’t put 5-10% down and own a house. In Israel, 60% down was the rule. But that seems downright smart these days.

We also didn’t have any banks fail during the crisis. BOI chief Fischer bought millions of U.S. dollars – what’s known as an expansionary monetary policy – which shored up the shekel to dollar exchange rate in favor of Israeli exporters. Fischer expects that today’s NIS 3.7 to the dollar will go up soon.

Ironically, another reason Israel fared relatively well: the national elections earlier this year. “The entire nation was being run until mid-year by the budget for 2008,” Fischer told Haaretz. That meant no new spending could be authorized. “Even if it wanted to, the government couldn’t squander money.”

Travel overseas is good news for agents and airlines, though less so for hotels and tourist destinations in Israel which can always use the added business. But in any case, the hotels here are all full with visitors from abroad who come every year for the high holiday season (we rented out our apartment for two weeks during Sukkot a few years ago and made enough to finance most of the trip!)

Where are Israelis going? Despite a downturn earlier due to its leaders’ criticism of Israel during Operation Cast Lead, Turkey is at the top of the list with about 500 flights and 70,000 passengers. The United States comes in second with 167 flights and 38,000 passengers. Then there’s Germany (about 196 flights and 34,000 passengers); Italy (239 flights and 32,000 passengers); and England (142 flights and 27,000 passengers).

And oh yes, while you’re waiting, there’s a sukka in Terminal 3 (it’ between Gates 2 and 3).