Israel

Israeli exports were up by 23.5% y-o-y in June 2008, suggesting that the export sector has not yet felt the impact of US economic woes. We believe that export growth will start to... 2008-09-26

With uncertainty persisting over the replacement of Ehud Olmert as Kadima leader and the future of the governing coalition, we have downgraded Israel's score in the constitutional... 2008-09-25

News that Syria has amassed 10,000 troops on the Lebanese border underscores our view that the opposition is likely to strengthen its position, if not win outright, in next year's... 2008-09-24

Meanwhile, another coalition partner, Labour, has threatened to walk out on Kadima if it succumbs to what Labour MK Ophir Pines-Paz referred to as 'extortion' by the likes of Shas.... 2008-09-18

New information suggests that an attack by Hizbullah and Hamas on Israeli tourists to Egypt's Sinai region is imminent, according to Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak. According... 2008-09-16

We have raised our year-end interest rate forecast to 4.25% on the back of a higher than expected inflation reading in August. We now see the headline interest rate remaining at its... 2008-09-16

While our core scenario is for Syria to re-emerge into the international community, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is clearly not as yet throwing all his eggs into the one basket... 2008-08-20

Egypt is once again cracking down on security at the Gaza border (Rafah), after closing it yet again in a move that could well go down badly with the population, which is sympathetic... 2008-08-15

We continue to see an outside risk that Israel could once again attack neighbouring Lebanon, in an attempt to reduce the threat posed by Hizbullah. Recent signs suggest that hostility... 2008-08-11

Circumstances surrounding the death of top Syrian official General Muhammad Suleiman are unclear to say the least, and we hesitate to draw any firm conclusions at this point, except... 2008-08-04