TASE Defense stocks soar as Eilat Port drowns without bailout. Phoenix invests ₪700M in US retail. TV10 Daily
Re: January 13, 2026 in Israel - and what it all means for investors at home and abroad.
Quick takes:
If you want to understand the different facets of the Israeli economy in 2026, start with the Port of Eilat. A critical piece of civilian infrastructure, it is effectively being strangled by bureaucracy, with promised government aid nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, we reported that the port has taken matters into its own hands with plans announced for independent operations for car imports.
Contrast this with yesterday’s trading on the capital market, where the defense sector is roaring. Smaller players like Aryt Industries jumped 9.59% as investors price in a long-term ‘security premium.’ The dynamic is stark. The state is struggling to protect its own economic assets, while the market is aggressively rewarding the companies built to protect the state.
The Quick Read
As Eilat Port flounders, no government bailout on the horizon
MK Moshe Gafni, Israeli Parliamentary Finance Committee Chair, slams the Treasury: “We agreed on aid for Eilat Port, but nothing happened.”
Real estate JV
Israeli insurance giant Phoenix and MediPower sign a 700M NIS deal to buy grocery-anchored centers in the US.
Tech merger
Tasq AI and BLEND are merging to create a data-labeling powerhouse.
Consumer crackdown
The Consumer Protection Authority fines Super Win for misleading lottery schemes.
Energy deal
Golden Energy signs a 4.9M NIS storage contract; stock jumps 26%.
Defense rally
Defense stocks surged, led by Arit (+8%) and Elbit Systems (+7.57%).
Infrastructure | The port to nowhere
The saga of the Port of Eilat has shifted from a security crisis to a bureaucratic scandal. Despite being shut down for months due to the Houthi blockade, the promised government aid package has stalled, pushing the facility to the brink.
MK Moshe Gafni, Chair of the Finance Committee, lashed out at the Ministry of Finance representatives yesterday, exposing a breakdown in governance.
“We sat here, we agreed on an immediate outline to assist the port, and nothing happened,” Gafni charged.
Port management has explicitly threatened mass layoffs of specialized workers if the state guarantee doesn’t materialize immediately. The port is currently a ‘ghost terminal,’ generating zero revenue while maintaining high fixed costs. The delay in aid signals that the Treasury may be rethinking the economic viability of the southern gate altogether under the current threat level.
Deal flow | Phoenix goes shopping in American retail market
The Phoenix (TASE:PHOE) is doubling down on US retail. The insurance giant announced a 700 million NIS joint venture with MediPower (TASE:MDPR) to acquire commercial centers in the United States.
The JV will focus on ‘grocery-anchored’ open-air centers, a recession-resistant asset class that has outperformed traditional malls. Phoenix will provide the bulk of the equity, leveraging MediPower’s operational expertise on the ground.
Our take - a classic flight to quality. With the Shekel strong, Israeli institutions are using their currency advantage to buy income-generating assets abroad.
Technology | A skills merger
In a signal that consolidation is coming to the AI sector, Tasq AI and BLEND announced a full merger.
The combined entity is valued in the “tens of millions of dollars.” Tasq AI specializes in data generation for AI training, while BLEND focuses on localization. Together, they aim to solve the lack of high-quality, linguistically diverse training data.
Small AI startups are recognizing that competing with tech titans in isolation is no longer viable. Consequently, many are opting to consolidate, merging to deliver 'full-stack' data solutions as a strategic necessity for survival.
Regulation | A 1.5 million NIS bluff
The Consumer Protection Authority dropped the hammer on Super Win 2009 (formerly Club 4 U), fining the company 1.51 million NIS.
The Scam: The investigation found the company misled consumers by claiming they had ‘won’ a prize or were selected for a ‘special status’ to sell them lottery subscriptions.
There was no prize. The ‘winning status’ was a script read to every caller. CPA Commissioner Kobi Zarihan's response: “Creating a false representation of winning is a severe blow to consumer trust.”
Capital Markets | Defense super-cycle
While the broad indices were mixed, the defense sector effectively decoupled from the rest of the market yesterday.
Arit Industries (TASE:ARIT), which manufactures fuzes for artillery shells, surged 9.59%. Elbit Systems (TASE:ESLT) climbed 7.57%.
Investors are moving beyond the ‘emergency’ phase of the war and pricing in a structural shift. The IDF’s need to replenish stockpiles, combined with Europe’s rearmament, has turned so-called boring ammunition manufacturers into high-growth assets.
However, it wasn’t just defense. Trading volumes in the Big Five Banks (TASE:TA-BANKS5) spiked to levels typically seen in European exchanges, signaling renewed foreign institutional interest in Israeli financial institutions.
TASE snapshot for Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026
TA-35 Index (TASE:TA35): 🔴 -0.44%
TA-90 (TASE:TA90): 🔴 -0.00%
TA-125 (TASE:TA125): 🔴 -0.33%
That’s our Tuesday here in Israel 🎉
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Disclaimer: This brief is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. All data current as of publication date.