Latest news with #Michaeli
Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Activists ask Irish Government to ‘go deeper' on holding Israel to account
A former IDF soldier turned activist travelling with the delegation said it has been clear for a while that the destruction of Gaza has become the goal in and of itself. Christian Aid and Trocaire hosted a visit from Irish Aid-funded partner organisations B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence. Sarit Michaeli and Nasser Nawaj'ah are members of the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, known as B'Tselem. The Israeli non-profit organisation aims to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Ms Michaeli said that Israel will not change its policies on its own and is committed to 'deepening its control' over all Palestinians in the region. 'The principle that guides Israeli policy, very sadly and unfortunately, is the principle of Jewish supremacy, which makes Israeli Jews like us superior over Palestinians, not just Palestinian residents of the West Bank, but all Palestinians living in our region,' she said. 'That's like the essence of apartheid as we see it.' She added: 'We appreciate very much Ireland's role up to now and the very small changes that are happening in terms of international responses to what Israel is doing. 'But this needs to continue deeper, and there needs to be more commitment. 'There are irreversible, permanent, deep, egregious violations happening on the ground right now that really necessitate a very, very urgent and serious response.' She said there is an obligation on all EU member states to intervene and implement the interim measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Irish Government is to draft legislation to ban the trade of goods with Palestinian lands illegally occupied by Israeli settlements, using the ICJ advisory opinion from July as a legal basis. But it has been criticised for suggesting that the trade of services would not be included in the ban. 'There are clear steps in the decision and there's also an opening now with the EU review of the association agreement,' Ms Michaeli said. 'The international community involvement isn't just about some sort of kind of goodwill gesture the international community is enacting. It's an obligation. These are also, in some cases, actual legal obligations just to prevent certain international crimes from occurring. 'I don't think the EU has stood up to the moment, to its obligations. On the contrary, I think the fact that we are still in this day and age, we're talking about reaching more or less 60,000 people being killed, having been killed by Israel in Gaza since the horrors of October 7, including the current ongoing starvation of two million people. 'The bottom line is, when you look at this reality, I think that the broader EU response is absolutely and hugely inadequate.' She said the decision by the EU to review its association agreement with Israel is a 'shocking delay'. She added: 'It's very hard to grasp how people survive and live in a situation where there is literally no-one to protect them if someone attacks them, which is what these (West Bank) communities are going through. 'Israeli soldiers are being killed constantly in Gaza and this is also something that is raising a lot of opposition internally to the war. But there is no possibility now, internally in at least in my reading, to change things from within, inside Israel on this level. And therefore this brings, again, the need to strengthen international action.' She said that a war of revenge is taking place in Gaza and the end goal is the total destruction of the Palestinian people. 'It's not just about revenge. It's also about pursuing political objections that the Israeli government has been pursuing long before, utilising this as an opportunity,' she added. 'Removing Palestinians from huge swathes of land and wiping out the Palestinians' presence.' Joel Carmel is a former IDF solider and is part of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli veterans' organisation aimed at raising awareness about the Israeli war crimes. The organisation collects testimonies of former soldiers who served in the occupied territories, whether it's the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, and uses those testimonies in order to shed light on what the occupation looks like from the inside. Mr Carmel previously served in the IDF's Cogat unit (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) on the Gaza border. 'I was serving in this in this unit, Cogat, which is basically responsible for the application of Israeli government policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 'I went overnight from being a cadet to being responsible more or less for the freedom of movement of tens of thousands of people in the area and in northern West Bank. 'The deeper I went and the further I got through my service, it became clearer to me that there's not really a way that you can influence from the inside when you're part of such a big system which is so geared towards making it impossible for Palestinians to live their lives freely. 'I feel that by doing this, I'm at least I'm doing my part in a way, to make up for what I was part of.' He said: 'As someone living in Israel, you can very easily live your life, not even knowing that the occupation exists. 'I think it's time that we as an Israeli society, first and foremost, but the world in general, should be able to differentiate between those two things, because it shouldn't be normalised the way it has been.' He added: 'The reason that the IDF are still there, supposedly, is because of the hostages. Even though we're very much doing what we're doing in Gaza at the expense of the hostages, and we're seeing more of them being killed because of Israeli action in Gaza. 'The end game here is to clear the Gaza strip of Palestinians in exactly the same way that was their idea is to clear Area C in West Bank in order to set up settlements. 'For a while now, it's been clear that destruction in Gaza has become a goal in and of itself, not just a means to an end. And we see that in all sorts of ways.' Mr Nawaj'ah, who is from the village of Susiya in the West Bank, has been campaigning since he was teenager. Now a Palestinian human rights defender and a field researcher, he said settler violence in the region is getting worse. He said that Ireland's response to Gaza has been as a humanitarian and moral one, and is important within the EU. 'We don't know how many villages are being annexed and we are taking our last breath,' he said. 'Settlers have been increasing and soldiers have been attacking homes and villages every day, late at night. 'They are successful in annexing villages and forcing people out of their homes. 'The state of Israel gives them a shield and cover to do these things. 'A lot of the lands in the Jordan Valley have been transferred to settlers, who bring their sheep and cows. 'We are helpless as the Israeli army do not intervene in favour of Palestinians. 'The war in Gaza has its end goal, which is to basically lead to ethnic cleansing, which is a goal of the current right-wing Israeli government.'
Irish Examiner
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Activists ask Government to ‘go deeper' on holding Israel to account
A group of Israeli activists who have travelled to Dublin have called on the Government to take 'concrete action' to hold Israel to account. A former IDF soldier turned activist travelling with the delegation said it has been clear for a while that the destruction of Gaza has become the goal in and of itself. Christian Aid and Trócaire hosted a visit from Irish Aid-funded partner organisations B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence. Sarit Michaeli and Nasser Nawaj'ah are members of the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, known as B'Tselem. The Israeli non-profit organisation aims to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Ms Michaeli said that Israel will not change its policies on its own and is committed to 'deepening its control' over all Palestinians in the region. 'The principle that guides Israeli policy, very sadly and unfortunately, is the principle of Jewish supremacy, which makes Israeli Jews like us superior over Palestinians, not just Palestinian residents of the West Bank, but all Palestinians living in our region,' she said. 'That's like the essence of apartheid as we see it.' She added: 'We appreciate very much Ireland's role up to now and the very small changes that are happening in terms of international responses to what Israel is doing. 'But this needs to continue deeper, and there needs to be more commitment. 'There are irreversible, permanent, deep, egregious violations happening on the ground right now that really necessitate a very, very urgent and serious response.' She said there is an obligation on all EU member states to intervene and implement the interim measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Government is to draft legislation to ban the trade of goods with Palestinian lands illegally occupied by Israeli settlements, using the ICJ advisory opinion from July as a legal basis. 'Broader EU response is inadequate' But it has been criticised for suggesting that the trade of services would not be included in the ban. 'There are clear steps in the decision and there's also an opening now with the EU review of the association agreement,' Ms Michaeli said. 'The international community involvement isn't just about some sort of kind of goodwill gesture the international community is enacting. It's an obligation. These are also, in some cases, actual legal obligations just to prevent certain international crimes from occurring. 'I don't think the EU has stood up to the moment, to its obligations. On the contrary, I think the fact that we are still in this day and age, we're talking about reaching more or less 60,000 people being killed, having been killed by Israel in Gaza since the horrors of October 7, including the current ongoing starvation of two million people. 'The bottom line is, when you look at this reality, I think that the broader EU response is absolutely and hugely inadequate.' She said the decision by the EU to review its association agreement with Israel is a 'shocking delay'. She added: 'It's very hard to grasp how people survive and live in a situation where there is literally no-one to protect them if someone attacks them, which is what these (West Bank) communities are going through. 'Israeli soldiers are being killed constantly in Gaza and this is also something that is raising a lot of opposition internally to the war. But there is no possibility now, internally in at least in my reading, to change things from within, inside Israel on this level. And therefore this brings, again, the need to strengthen international action.' She said that a war of revenge is taking place in Gaza and the end goal is the total destruction of the Palestinian people. 'It's not just about revenge. It's also about pursuing political objections that the Israeli government has been pursuing long before, utilising this as an opportunity,' she added. Removing Palestinians from huge swathes of land and wiping out the Palestinians' presence. Joel Carmel is a former IDF solider and is part of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli veterans' organisation aimed at raising awareness about the Israeli war crimes. The organisation collects testimonies of former soldiers who served in the occupied territories, whether it's the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, and uses those testimonies in order to shed light on what the occupation looks like from the inside. Mr Carmel previously served in the IDF's Cogat unit (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) on the Gaza border. 'I was serving in this unit, Cogat, which is basically responsible for the application of Israeli government policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 'I went overnight from being a cadet to being responsible more or less for the freedom of movement of tens of thousands of people in the area and in northern West Bank. 'The deeper I went and the further I got through my service, it became clearer to me that there's not really a way that you can influence from the inside when you're part of such a big system which is so geared towards making it impossible for Palestinians to live their lives freely. 'I feel that by doing this, I'm at least I'm doing my part in a way, to make up for what I was part of.' He said: 'As someone living in Israel, you can very easily live your life, not even knowing that the occupation exists. 'I think it's time that we as an Israeli society, first and foremost, but the world in general, should be able to differentiate between those two things, because it shouldn't be normalised the way it has been.' 'Destruction in Gaza' He added: 'The reason that the IDF are still there, supposedly, is because of the hostages. Even though we're very much doing what we're doing in Gaza at the expense of the hostages, and we're seeing more of them being killed because of Israeli action in Gaza. 'The end game here is to clear the Gaza strip of Palestinians in exactly the same way that was their idea is to clear Area C in West Bank in order to set up settlements. 'For a while now, it's been clear that destruction in Gaza has become a goal in and of itself, not just a means to an end. And we see that in all sorts of ways.' Mr Nawaj'ah, who is from the village of Susiya in the West Bank, has been campaigning since he was teenager. Now a Palestinian human rights defender and a field researcher, he said settler violence in the region is getting worse. He said that Ireland's response to Gaza has been as a humanitarian and moral one, and is important within the EU. 'We don't know how many villages are being annexed and we are taking our last breath,' he said. 'Settlers have been increasing and soldiers have been attacking homes and villages every day, late at night. 'They are successful in annexing villages and forcing people out of their homes. 'The state of Israel gives them a shield and cover to do these things. 'A lot of the lands in the Jordan Valley have been transferred to settlers, who bring their sheep and cows. 'We are helpless as the Israeli army do not intervene in favour of Palestinians. 'The war in Gaza has its end goal, which is to basically lead to ethnic cleansing, which is a goal of the current right-wing Israeli government.' Read More Greta Thunberg deported from Israel after Gaza-bound aid ship seized
Globe and Mail
14-03-2025
- Automotive
- Globe and Mail
Tesla vs. GM: Cowen Reveals Which Auto Stock Holds Greater Upside
Cars are more than just a way to get from point A to point B – they're a significant economic force. For over a century, the automobile industry has fueled job creation, consumer spending, and market dynamics, shaping America's financial landscape. Owning a car isn't just about convenience; it's an investment in mobility, efficiency, and even social status. Whether it's the daily grind of commuting or the thrill of a cross-country road trip, vehicles influence both personal choices and broader economic trends. And with the rise of electrification and automation, the industry continues to shift gears, impacting everything from manufacturing to Wall Street. Light Up your Portfolio with Spark: Easily identify stocks' risks and opportunities. Discover stocks' market position with detailed competitor analyses. Yet, despite its undeniable impact, auto stocks remain surprising underperformers. The sector draws plenty of attention, but at its core, the industry is still rooted in traditional manufacturing –making it vulnerable to the same headwinds that weigh on the broader U.S. industrial sector. Still, the auto stocks are not going away. In fact, Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli sees them as solid long-term plays, even if the road ahead comes with a few bumps. 'US auto stock sentiment feels as depressed as ever with most trading at/near historical multiple lows. Yet the sector has a long history of groupthink and over-extrapolations that led to alpha opportunities, making it ripe for stock picking. The key is to identify optimal exposures (exposures matter) and multiple paths to outperform. Automaker stocks are volatile/complex but are often where the most LT upside potential exists,' Michaeli opined. Following this line of thought, Michaeli goes on to look at two US auto manufacturing giants, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and General Motors (NYSE:GM), and picks out which of these auto stocks holds the greater upside given the currents of today's automotive market. Let's dive in. Tesla First up is Tesla, Elon Musk's best-known business venture. This company has done more than most others to redefine the 21st-century automotive business – it was the first pure-play EV company to reach profitability in the US markets, and under Musk's leadership, Tesla has become not just the largest EV company in the world, but the largest car maker of any stripe. Despite a sharp pullback in share price this year, the company still boasts an $800 billion market cap, more than triple the valuation of second-place Toyota. While EVs make up Tesla's bread and butter, Musk has a broader vision and is pushing toward self-driving vehicles and other robotics technologies. Tesla has unveiled a robotaxi, the Cybercab, and is developing Full Self-Driving (FSD) software to make autonomous vehicles safe and reliable. The company has also revealed designs and plans for an autonomous humanoid robot, Optimus, built with human proportions and intended for a wide range of general-purpose manual labor tasks. Tesla aims to integrate AI with cars and robots to achieve full autonomy. Though still in its early stages, this vision is ambitious. When we turn to financial results, we find that in Tesla's last reported quarter, 4Q24, the company generated total revenues of $25.7 billion, up 2% year-over-year but missing estimates by $1.44 billion. Automotive sales accounted for $19.8 billion of that total, marking an 8% year-over-year decline, while the company's energy generation and storage segment saw a 113% year-over-year increase, reaching $3.06 billion. Tesla's earnings for the quarter, with a non-GAAP EPS of 73 cents, missed the forecast by 4 cents per share. Cowen analyst Michaeli acknowledges that there are both upsides and downsides to Tesla right now – but he comes out for the bulls on this stock. 'We see merits in both bull & bear case cases, but ultimately come out tactically bullish on the shares given the recent share price pullback coming ahead of several potentially consequential catalysts this year… While there's no shortage of challenges this year (IRA, tariffs, competition, brand concerns), the list of potentially game-changing level catalysts across EV, AV and robotics are robust enough to tilt risk/reward favorably with the shares pulling back meaningfully from recent highs. To be sure, we do expect a challenging Q1 (consensus deliveries look high), but once Tesla clears Q1, the catalyst path should look brighter,' Michaeli opined. The analyst goes on to give TSLA shares a Buy rating, and sets its price target at $388, indicating potential for a 48% upside in the coming year. (To watch Michaeli's track record, click here) The Cowen view represents the bulls here; overall, Tesla stock gets a Hold (i.e., Neutral) rating from the analyst consensus, based on 37 recent Wall Street reviews that include 12 to Buy, 13 to Hold, and 12 to Sell. The stock's $247.10 trading price and $331.07 average target price together imply a ~34% one-year upside potential. (See TSLA stock forecast) General Motors Next up is one of Detroit's legacy names, General Motors. This company is the largest of the Motor City's Big Three, with a $48 billion market cap, revenue of $187 billion last year, and total 2024 vehicle sales of 2.7 million. The company has sold cars under a long list of brand names in its 117-year history, but in recent years has streamlined its offerings and sells cars under four nameplates: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC. In addition to building and selling cars and trucks for the commercial market, GM also has a defense division, producing light vehicles for the US military, and owns the ACDelco auto parts company. By the numbers, GM is an impressive manufacturing company. It has 156 facilities in the US, employing over 91,000 people, and sells its vehicles through a network of more than 4,000 dealers. In the past decade, the company has invested more than $35 billion into its US facilities, to maintain a cutting-edge industrial plant – and that is hardly the company's only contribution to the overall US economy. As of 2023, GM had business relationships with more than 10,000 suppliers of various types, and spent $87 billion on its purchase contracts with them. While internal combustion engines remain GM's foundation, the company has already put together a line-up of EVs – and has committed to converting its consumer production to all-electric vehicles by 2035. This is part of the company's overall plan to achieve both sustainability and safety with zero emissions, zero crashes, and zero congestion. On the defense side, GM is known for its infantry vehicles – the Squad, Cargo, and Utility vehicles that feature reliable off-road capability in a range of terrains – and for its Suburban Shield vehicle, an armored SUV designed for law enforcement. When we look at the company's results, we find that GM generated $47.7 billion in revenue for 4Q24, a figure that beat the forecast by $4.13 billion and was up 11% year-over-year. The company's bottom line in the quarter came to $1.92 by non-GAAP measures, 8 cents per share better than expected. The company's adjusted automotive free cash flow hit $14.05 billion in the quarter, growing by almost $2.4 billion year-over-year. Those were strong results, and combined with the company's solid positions in the defense industry and the EV transition, led Cowen's Michaeli to take a highly upbeat position on GM. 'GM is our Top Pick. The elevator pitch is that GM isn't your typical 'legacy' automaker, for three reasons: (1) The majority of GM's earnings come from a unique Defensive Franchise (NA Pickup Trucks & Large SUVs) that alone can be valued at ~$90/share, with virtually every bear case in Global Auto not meaningfully applying to GM's Truck Franchise. This in part explains why GM's earnings have consistently outperformed global peers; (2) For GM, we believe EVs can become uniquely accretive due to GM-specific segmentation and regional considerations, with early evidence emerging to support this… (3) The combination of aggressive share buybacks (on a ~20% FCF yield), ample levers to drive further earnings growth and an increasingly stale/wrong 'peak auto' overhang set the stock up to continue grinding higher on upward consensus EPS revisions and sentiment improvement,' Michaeli stated. Along with these bullish reasons, the Cowen analyst rates GM stock as a Buy – and his $105 price target implies that it will gain a robust 115% over the course of the coming year. Looking at the consensus breakdown, GM's Moderate Buy consensus rating is based on 10 Buys, 4 Holds and 1 Sell. GM stock is priced at $48.64 and its $63.80 average price target points toward a ~31% gain in the next 12 months. (See GM stock forecast) All in all, while the Cowen analyst sees upside for both Tesla and GM, GM's stock presents the more compelling opportunity with its projected 115% gain, far surpassing Tesla's 48%. However, Tesla's innovation-driven strategy remain key factors that could support its upward trajectory. To find good ideas for auto stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks' Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks' equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment. Questions or Comments about the article? Write to editor@
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
1 Wall Street Analyst Thinks Tesla Stock Is Going to $388. Is It a Buy Around $260?
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has a lot of moving parts. It's not just an electric vehicle (EV) maker. It has a growing energy storage business, a robotics arm, and enough data and artificial intelligence (AI) assets to begin making fully self-driving vehicles later this year. A busy, vocal, and sometimes controversial CEO also can add to the stock's volatility. The stock has lost 35% so far this year, most of which has come since Tesla reported its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Jan. 29. But one Wall Street analyst thinks the stock has dropped far enough. TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli just upgraded that firm's rating on Tesla stock to a "buy" and provided a massive price target increase from $180 to $388 per share, reports Barron's. To be clear, Michaeli is a new analyst at TD Cowen recently moving from Citigroup. His prior price target at Citi, though, was well below $388 per share. His new rating implies a nearly 50% upside for Tesla shares. Tesla's EV business has been under pressure. While the company delivered a similar number of units in 2024 versus the previous year, automotive revenue dropped by 6.5%. That's from price cuts and incentives to stem rising competition. Evidence is mounting that sales are slowing, too. In February, China sales plunged more than 50%, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). That was the lowest sales month for Tesla in China since July 2022. Michaeli is looking beyond just EV sales, though. He recognizes ongoing risks, and summed up his position this way: "While there is no shortage of challenges this year ... the list of potential game-changing level catalysts across, EV, autonomous vehicles, and robotics are robust enough to tilt risk/reward favorably." That's essentially the bottom line for Tesla stock. Investors need to weigh the risks versus potential future rewards from the business. Its robotics and self-driving car aspirations need to pan out to make the stock worth owning. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $292,207!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $45,326!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $480,568!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of March 3, 2025 Citigroup is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Howard Smith has positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Wall Street Analyst Thinks Tesla Stock Is Going to $388. Is It a Buy Around $260? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
