CTech's Tuesday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Morris Kahn, Yossi Vardi, urge Netanyahu to halt deportation of Israel-born children of migrant workers. Since July, Israel has arrested dozens of migrant nursing workers whose visas have expired, along with their children who have been born and raised in the country. Last week, a mother and her 13-year-old son were deported to the Philippines despite their pending appeal. Read more

Israel to set up fast track for licensing fintech projects. According to the Israeli Ministry of Finance, there are currently 2,000 different entities awaiting licensing, many of which are fintech and blockchain companies that need to make only slight adjustments to comply with current regulations. Read more

FIMI in early talks to sell irrigation company Rivulis. FIMI is looking to sell Rivulis at an EBITDA multiple of 14, meaning between $500 million and $550 million, according to two people familiar with the matter. Read more

Israel to award $2.6 million to a supermarket chain that commits to using more packaging. Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture announced Sunday it would award one supermarket chain the grant, part of a pilot program that would see food retailers pre-package produce to reduce food waste. Read more

Report: Israel spends more on West Bank settlers than any other group. A report published by Adva Center, a Tel Aviv-based non-partisan Israeli policy analysis center, reveals that in 2017, the state spent $1,000 per-capita on non-Haredi settlers compared with $890 on residents of Arab towns and $600 on Haredi settlers. Read more

In Israel, heart disease mortality is down, dementia deaths are up, says new report. On Thursday, the Israeli Ministry of Health published a report detailing the leading causes of death in the country. Read more

Bright Mountain Media acquires S&W Media Group for $23 million. Founded in 2015, S&W employs a team of 22 in Herzliya and has not raised any funds to date. Read more

PerimeterX acquires network security startup PageSeal. Founded in 2016, Pageseal develops a network security service designed to block unwanted ads and browser extensions. Read more

WSC Sports expands with new office space. Having announced a $23 million funding round earlier this month, the company has rented out a second floor at its Tel Aviv area office building. Read more

Israeli universities drop in world rankings, again. Only one Israeli university made it to the top 100 list of this year’s Shanghai Ranking, published last week. Read more