CTech’s Weekly Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Russia's Yandex is moving in on Gett's home turf. The decision to start operations in Israel is part of the company’s global taxi expansion plans. In 2017, Yandex announced a merger between its taxi booking service and Uber’s Russian operations. Read more 

Israel to fund Foodtech incubator in the Galilee. Israel’s governmental innovation investment arm said it will allocate $28 million for the project, set to located in the historic town of Safed, in the north of Israel. Read more

Israeli watchdog calls on public in a bid to better regulate big tech. The Israeli Antitrust Authority is seeking comments on the promotion and protection of competition in the digital era. Read more

To offset U.S. tax reform, Israel to cut red tape for transfer tax exemption. Speaking at Calcalist’s National Economic Conference, Israel’s tax chief Eran Yaacov said a special plan to enable Israel-based companies to change holding structure without paying a capital gains tax is in the works. Read more 

Lawsuit asks to restrict sales of Israeli spyware. Two lawsuits filed last week in Israel and Cyprus reveal details of the modus operandi of Israeli NSO Group. Read more 

New report trails the rise of Israeli fintech. Over the last 18 months, 16 multinational financial firms have started operating in the Israeli tech hub or increased their local footprint. Read more 

Tel Aviv climbs on list of top 10 undergraduate programs for entrepreneurs. Tel Aviv University came in at eighth place, up from ninth last year on a list by Pitchbook. The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem made the top 50 list. Read more

Israel catches the digital health virus. While Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva continues to stumble, small startups developing new technologies for treating, diagnosing and alleviating medical conditions are steering ahead. Read more

Following government ban, Juul switches to reduced-nicotine pods in Israel. On Monday, a ban on the sales of Juul's 5% nicotine pods in the country came into effect. Juul is contesting the decision in court. Read more

Israeli officials cozy up to Philippine President Duterte. Currently on a four-day state visit to Israel, Duterte has met with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Rivlin, and signed collaboration agreements between the two countries. Read more