Aleph's Michael Eisenberg on the impact of Middle East tensions on Israeli business
Michael Eisenberg, Aleph co-founder and general partner, joins 'Money Movers' to discuss the impact of Middle East tensions on Israeli business, the rise of Israeli VC funds, and more.
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New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani urged Ben & Jerry to boycott Israeli settlements
Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani claimed he personally urged the co-founder of Ben & Jerry's to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank — a month before the company announced the anti-Israel boycott, according to a recently resurfaced video. Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman who supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the Jewish state, recalled meeting Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield at an unrelated June 2, 2021 press conference. 'I told Jerry I was disappointed in the company's work in Israel,' Mamdani said in the video interview, posted on Facebook at the time by the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. Advertisement 5 NYC Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was surrounded by about 15 supporters as Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Mamdani on June 17, 2025 inside Sami's Kebab located at 35-57 Crescent Street, Astoria Queens. Paul Martinka 'Ben & Jerry's sells their ice cream in Israeli settlements. They have partnerships with Israeli supermarkets that have been found by the United Nations to be profiting off the occupation,' Mamdani says in the clip, titled 'Teach In: Collective Liberation from Minneapolis to Palestine.' He recalled telling Greenfield that while the ice cream maker had a strong record supporting 'social justice in America,' it was 'completely silent and frankly complicit about injustice in Palestine.' Advertisement 'I want to see consistency in these values. I want to see you stop selling in Israeli settlements,' he said he told Greenfield. 'Cancel your licensing agreements with all Israeli supermarkets that are profiting from these settlements. Have consistency about justice.' The following month, Ben & Jerry's announced it would move to stop selling ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories, citing inconsistency with its values — triggering backlash, shareholder divestment and legal disputes with parent company Unilever. 5 Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen, co-founders of Ben & Jerry's, partnered with MoveOn to hand out free ice cream at Franklin Square in Philadelphia during their Scoop The Vote tour on September 16, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Getty Images for MoveOn Advertisement Pro-Israel activists said Tuesday that Mamdani's years-old push for the ice cream boycott was just another example of antisemitism. 'It's further evidence that Mamandi is not just an antisemite — he's a virulent antisemite,' said former CUNY board of trustee member Jeffrey Wiesenfeld. Brooklyn Assemblyman Kalman Yeger, an Orthodox Jew who is backing ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor, said, 'Zohran didn't invent Jew hatred but he sure likes to profit from it.' New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced that he pulled $111 million in investments out of Unilver because of Ben & Jerry's West Bank boycott — one of many state officials to take similar action against the parent company. Advertisement 5 A motorist drives past a closed 'Ben & Jerry's' ice-cream shop in the Israeli city of Yavne, about 30 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, on July 23, 2021. AFP via Getty Images Cuomo, now the frontrunner in the Democratic mayoral primary facing off against a surging Mamdani, had signed an executive order barring state government from doing business with any entity that engaged in BDS activities to harm Israel. His successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, renewed the executive order and threatened to sever ties with Unilever over the boycott. Meanwhile, City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also running for the Democratic mayoral nomination, has been criticized for divesting pension funds from Israel government bonds. 5 An Israeli flag is set atop a delivery truck outside US ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry's factory in Be'er Tuvia, on July 21, 2021. AFP via Getty Images Last month, Ben & Jerry's stoked controversy again after its independent board issued a statement labeling the conflict in Gaza a 'genocide' — placing renewed strain on its already tense relationship with Unilever. Mamdani, in his 2021 interview, recalled how he had pulled aside co-owner Greenfield to push the West Bank ban following an event where he and other lawmakers advocated for ending qualified immunity for police officers sued for civil rights violations. Elsewhere in the interview, Mamdani told activists to 'demand' that politicians and community leaders back BDS, warning that 'it is not enough' to merely voice support — there 'must be consequences for speaking up in favor of apartheid.' Advertisement 5 Protesters demonstrate against Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream at the New York Public Library on August 12, 2021 in New York City. Getty Images Mamdani's campaign didn't comment on the resurfaced clip Tuesday. Shortly after getting elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020, Mamdani had also said Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island should be boycotted because of its partnership with an Israel-based school — Technion University, The Post recently reported. Advertisement 'If you were to look at the lens of BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] and how it applies here in New York City, you would say that Cornell-Technion is something you would be talking about,' Mamdani said in the 'Talking Palestine' podcast with Sumaya Awad. 'Technion University is an Israeli University that has helped to develop a lot of weapons technology used by the IDF [Israel Defense Force],' said Mamdani, as he voiced support for economic boycotts against Israel.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
War insurance costs to Israel soar after Iranian attacks, sources say
By Jonathan Saul LONDON (Reuters) -War risk insurance premiums for shipments to Israel are as much as three times higher than a week ago as the war between Israel and Iran entered its fifth day, industry sources said on Tuesday. The cost of a seven-day voyage to Israeli ports was quoted between 0.7% and 1.0% of the value of a ship, versus around 0.2% a week ago, they said. War risk premiums to Israel are still below a peak of over 2% in November 2023 that were quoted after a Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and triggered the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Individual underwriters will price risk and rates differently, but this will add tens of thousands of dollars of extra daily costs for every voyage. "Calls specifically to Israel are very much on a case-by-case basis with rates increased to anywhere up to 1% for a 7-day call, dependent on what cargo, ownership and port," David Smith, head of marine with insurance broker McGill and Partners, told Reuters. Israel relies on sea lanes for much of its imports which are shipped to gateways that include the Mediterranean ports of Ashdod, which is close to Gaza in the south, and Haifa in the north, as well as the Red Sea port of Eilat. Israel's Bazan Group shut down its Haifa oil refinery, the country's largest, on June 16 after its power station was damaged in an Iranian attack. Nearly 30 vessels, many general cargo ships, were currently anchored around Haifa's bay, according to MarineTraffic ship tracking data on Tuesday. All port terminals in Haifa were operating normally and remained fully operational, an Israeli source involved in Haifa's port industry said. Many shipping companies are already wary of sailing to Israel due to the higher risk profile. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have said they will attack any Israel-linked vessels despite reaching a ceasefire over U.S. and UK-linked ships in the Red Sea. The militia announced in March a "maritime blockade" on Haifa port in response to Israel's ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Commentary: The Middle East is messing up Trump's economic plan
In President Trump's perfect world, nation after nation would make trade deals with the US and validate his aggressive tariff strategy. Low energy prices would soothe consumers. Turbulent parts of the world would settle down because the US president insists on peace. Like virtually every other president, however, Trump is discovering that events can conspire against him. The war between Israel and Iran doesn't affect the US directly — yet — but it demands Trump's attention and may force him to make some difficult decisions. Possible outcomes range from a temporary interruption of Trump's economic plans to an unforeseen crisis that rewrites the playbook. "Market optimism about a quick Israel/Iran resolution is premature and naive at best, completely wrong at worst," Terry Haines, founder of Pangaea Policy, wrote in a June 16 analysis. "There's not a simplistic binary solution to a multi-dimensional problem here." Trump set July 9 as a deadline for trade deals with at least 15 nations. That's 90 days after Trump suspended the "reciprocal" tariffs he imposed on April 2 as leverage in trade negotiations. One venue for trade talks was supposed to be the current gathering of world leaders in western Canada, where Trump could have hammered out deals face-to-face with the leaders of Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Japan, and other nations high on his tariff target list. But Trump left early to deal with the increasingly grave exchange of fire between Israel and Iran. That will indefinitely delay trade talks, with uncertainty hanging over trade volumes totaling more than $3 trillion. Absent any trade deals, most imports to the US face new taxes ranging from 10% to 50%, with price hikes likely to hit American shoppers within faces some momentous decisions on the Iran-Israel conflict that could affect the rest of his presidency. He's talking tough, as if Israel and, by extension, the US have all the cards in the showdown with Iran. "Unconditional surrender," Trump demanded of Iran on social media on June 17. "We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran." He also said "we" know exactly where Iran's theocratic leader, Ali Khamenei, is hiding out, clearly implying that a US or Israeli airstrike could kill the ayatollah. Trump is bluffing to some extent. As far as anybody knows, Israeli jets have been attacking Iran without any US assistance since June 13, as Israel tries to eliminate an Iranian nuclear weapons program that could eventually threaten Israel's existence. Trump, in turn, has been trying to get Iran to agree to scale back or drop its nuclear program through diplomacy. What Trump seems to be doing now is threatening that US forces will join the attack unless Iran agrees to unwind the nuclear program on its own. And do it fast. It's a threat Iran has to take seriously. But it also carries risks for Trump. Israel lacks the giant "bunker buster" bombs needed to burrow deep into the earth and fully destroy Iran's most hardened nuclear sites. But the US can't just gift Israel some high-end bombs and look the other way. It would most likely take US jets flying near or over Iran to put those bombs on target, making American troops direct combatants in the conflict. American bombs might be able to kill Iran's nuclear program for the time being. But the "what's next" question is an uncomfortable one. The Iranian regime is in a tight corner, but it's still dangerous. It could attack US ships or bases in the region, possibly killing scores. It could attack energy facilities in oil-producing neighbor states. It could also try to close the Strait of Hormuz, which would lock in roughly 20% of the world's oil supplies. Iran would ultimately lose if it had to face the US in any of these scenarios. But it could inflict pain, nonetheless. So if Trump were to act on his threats and send US jets over Iran, he'd be unleashing forces he might not be able to control. Any attack affecting actual oil supplies would cause a price spike much sharper than the $15 per barrel jump in prices that has occurred since Israel first struck Iran on June 13. That would be an inflationary shock felt very quickly by US motorists through higher pump prices and, with a lag, by consumers of many other goods as the rising cost of production and transportation pushed end prices higher. Trump has promised a permissive, deregulatory agenda meant to ease energy production and bring prices down. Part of his calculus for tariffs, which push prices up, is that falling energy costs would offset prices to the downside. If Trump could no longer rely on that, he'd have to decide whether to go through with tariffs, knowing that the harm to consumers would be greater than he planned for. Read more: How to protect your money during turmoil, stock market volatility In a quagmire scenario, US forces might join the Israelis in directly attacking Iran, and probably demolishing the nuclear program. But Iran could keep oil prices elevated for a while, with repeated attacks on oil infrastructure. If Trump were to go as far as trying to remove Iran's Islamic regime — which would delight Israel — it would raise the ugly question of whether US troops should enter Iran on the ground. Recent history suggests the answer should be no. US power helped overturn autocratic regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, but chaotic tribal warfare ensued in each case, costing thousands of American lives and many more local casualties. Trump himself has railed against US involvement in overseas wars and vowed to be the president of peace. For now, Trump seems to be hoping the mere threat of American strikes will cow the Iranian mullahs into giving up their nukes and allow Trump to declare victory. But they're a crafty bunch, even on defense — and Iran's allies Russia and China are no doubt whispering ideas for how to bluff the Americans into calling off the Israelis. Trump has a strong hand, but the longer a confrontation with Iran drags on, the more it will limit what Trump can do for the economy at home. Trade partners such as Europe and China are looking for every negotiating edge they can get against Trump. As long as he's tied up with something else, they'll be in no hurry to talk tariff. They know time is working against Trump, because the longer his tariffs are in place, the more likely American consumers are to notice — and boo. For some of those trade partners, the Iranian distraction is a welcome delay. If the US gets sucked into a bigger war — especially one with mounting casualties — Trump's popularity could decline along with his political sway. A few Republican defectors in Congress could undermine Trump's whole tax cut and put his deregulatory agenda at risk, much as Lyndon Johnson's social welfare reforms fell victim to the Vietnam War. The American president is powerful but not omnipotent. Trump is learning where the boundary lies. Rick Newman is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Bluesky and X: @rickjnewman. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
