At the Buffett table

The Hebrew press is swooning over Warren Buffett’s buyout of the Israeli company International Metalworking Companies (formerly known as Iscar) from the Wertheimer family. Two papers sent reporters to meet with the Oracle of Omaha and get his take on all things Israeli.

Yedioth Ahronoth’s headline proudly quotes Buffett as saying, “Israel is the No. 1 state.” In an exclusive interview (though not that exclusive, as Israel Hayom has one too), Buffett was asked about the buyout of IMC — the final stage of which cost Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway $2 billion — and about Israeli politicians. He assured the paper that IMC would remain in Israel and there was no reason for the company to leave.

As for the politicians, when asked for his thoughts on Finance Minister Yair Lapid, Buffett responded, “Who’s that? I haven’t heard that name.” When asked about Netanyahu, he demurred and instead stayed focused on the buyout, saying that the total payment of $6 billion was an investment in Israel that he expects will last for the next hundred years.

Israel Hayom sent Boaz Bismuth to Omaha and he came away with more of the same: Buffett praising Israeli entrepreneurship. “Israel needs to keep doing what it does. You are a nation of entrepreneurs with amazing capabilities,” Buffet said. Perhaps the most interesting part of the interview was when Bismuth gave Buffett a one-dollar bill blessed by the Lubavitcher rebbe. Buffett joked with Iscar chairman Eitan Wertheimer, “You’ve taken me for two billion after you took me for four billion years ago. Now all I’m left with is the rebbe’s dollar.”

Maariv throws a blurb about the deal on its front page that doesn’t focus on Buffett but on what the government will get. “State to receive NIS one billion in tax from Buffett’s buyout of Iscar; source in the treasury: ‘This will save the middle class from some budget cuts.’”

That billion shekels might come in handy, as Haaretz reports on its front page that Lapid is revising the budget and will forgo NIS 6.5 billion in proposed cuts. This would raise the deficit level to 4.9 percent of the GDP, up from the current 3%. Lapid presented the new plan Wednesday night to the government and stated that the reason for the revision was the assessment that tax revenues would be low. However, Lapid warned, if the government doesn’t do something dramatic next year, the deficit could reach 5.5%.

Trying times

Maariv’s top story focuses on Danny Ayalon’s expected testimony in the trial of former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman. The paper recounts key moments in Ayalon’s career, like speaking in front of the UN and helping negotiate at Wye and Camp David, but argues that his testimony against Liberman will be the most important speech of his life. “My memory won’t betray me,” Ayalon said about his testimony. The paper points out that whatever he says may be very damaging because he has nothing to lose if Liberman is convicted.

While Liberman’s defense team is trying to poke holes in Ayalon’s testimony, Israel Hayom reports that the IDF is ignoring holes in the West Bank security fence close to Moshav Lachish. The moshav has been robbed numerous times due to gaps in the fence. Last month 16 tractors were stolen, along with sheep and cattle. At the height of the crime spree, a Thai worker driving a tractor was kidnapped, beaten, and left in a field when his vehicle was stolen. The army responded to the report by saying, “The situation is being handled.”

The IDF and police might not be able to handle the situation at Lachish because they are reportedly  too busy building an illegal DNA database of African migrants. The front page story on Haaretz reports that police are collecting the DNA of migrant workers as they cross the border into Israel in order to have the info before they disappear into the streets of Tel Aviv. However, past attempts to get legal backing for this enterprise have been rebuffed by the government despite the police playing the security card. Human rights groups oppose the collection of DNA as they say it discriminates against migrant workers and punishes those whose sole crime is to have sought asylum.

In Maariv’s opinion pages, Avner Golub writes that US President Barack Obama is caught in a Syria trap. Golub reminds readers that Obama has said that if Syria used chemical weapons it would be a game changer, and that Iran wouldn’t acquire nuclear weapons. “Iran has not yet shown a willingness to make concessions, and one of the main reasons for this is the low credibility they attach to US threats regarding the use of the military option,” Golub writes. He concludes, “Intervention in Syria is not the optimal choice of America, but it’s preferred in the current situation.”

Haaretz comments on the proposed budget, urging support for the workforce. Referencing Israel’s economic crisis of 2002-3, it praised the government for acting responsibly and preventing a Greece-like crisis. Today Israel is in a similar situation but there is an added bonus of the political will to solve the unemployment issues in the ultra-Orthodox and Arab sector. “It must offer assistance to the Arab and the ultra-Orthodox populations in finding work,” the paper writes. If the government doesn’t, these two sectors could fall farther below the poverty line, which wouldn’t solve any of Israel’s economic problems.