Israel in Dire Need of Regulations Restricting Monopolies, Cartels and Big Business, Top Wealthy Families’ Influence on Political, Diplomatic

Forbes Reinforces Claim That Kadima is Tool of Oligarchs

Barak of IRIS lays out the reality of the Kadima Party here and here.

Excerpts;

Forbes Israel reported Sunday that twelve business groups control Israel’s economy – making it among the most concentrated on the globe. The report echoes warnings by journalist Ari Shavit.

According to the report, the business groups are controlled by the following families: Sami Ofer, Nochi Dankner, Shari Arison, the Cerberus-Gabriel consortium, Charles Bronfman, Yitzchak Tshuva, the Saban group, Lev Leviev, Matthew Bronfman, Tzadik Bino, the Borovich family, and Eliezer Fishman. The 12 families own 60 percent of the aggregate market value of all Israeli public companies (excluding the even larger Teva Pharmaceutical Industries), Forbes reported.

The report goes on to say that the families have constructed their empires, which consist of Israel’s largest companies, using organizational structures that have long ago been done away with in the Western world.

The report explains that the groups have an inordinate amount of control over Israel’s economy, political leaders and media due to the structuring of their holdings as pyramids — meaning several layers of companies each own others beneath them but are all beholden to the leading families. Such a phenomenon was eliminated in the US in the early 20th century through restrictions on ownership and the double taxation of dividends a company paid its owner company.

The report stressed that the issue is not economic, but political — saying the only way to regulate the power of the families is a large government coalition that would seek such regulation.

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