Closed end fund. It primarily invests in securities listed and trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and in the Israeli and Israel-related companies listed and trading in the United States. The First Israel Fund was incorporated in 1990 and is based New York City. Price as of 7/26/2007: 22.10 NAV as of 7/27/2007: 20.43 Expense ratio: 1.73% ISL appears to be overvalued, trading at a premium to its NAV. In addition, its expense ratio of 1.73% is high. I'd rather consider individual Israel stocks.

Ampal-American Israel Corporation acquires interests in businesses located in the State of Israel or that are Israel-related. It invests in companies in telecommunications, real estate and project development, energy, leisure time, and high technology sectors. The company provides its investee companies with ongoing support through its involvement in the investees� strategic decisions and introduction to the financial community, investment bankers, and other potential investors both in and outside of Israel. Ampal is a New York corporation founded in 1942 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Blue Square-Israel, Ltd., along with its subsidiaries, operates as a food retailer in Israel. The company, through its super markets, offers a range of food and beverages products; and nonfood items, such as house wares, toys, electrical appliances, computers and computer accessories, entertainment, and leisure products. It also provides health and beauty aids, infants� products, cosmetics and hygiene products, and prescription drugs. As of December 31, 2005, the company owned and operated 168 supermarkets under the brand names of Mega, Super Center, and Shefa Shuk. Blue Square was incorporated in 1988 and is based in Rosh Ha�ayin, Israel. Blue Square Israel Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Alon Israel Oil Company Ltd.

Stockerblog - June 16, 2007 - Cellcom Israel Ltd. (CEL) is a cellular communications company that yields 2.1%, based on their first dividend that the company has just paid. They trade on the NYSE. The P/E is 17, the P/S is 1.7, and the PEG is 1.2, Cellcom Israel, Ltd. and its subsidiaries provide cellular communication services in Israel. Its services include basic cellular telephone services, including voice mail, cellular fax, call waiting, call forwarding, caller identification, conference calling, and Push-and-Talk service. The company also offers an outbound roaming service to its subscribers when traveling outside of Israel and an inbound roaming to visitors to Israel. In addition, its services include Cellcom Volume, a music-related marketing initiative that provides downloadable content consisting of ring tones, video tones, true tones, and songs in MP3 format through its popular cellular music portal; and handsets supporting music content, as well as other merchandising services. Further, the company provides messaging services enabling the subscribers to send and receive text, photos, multimedia, and animation messages; cellular Internet service that enables its subscribers with designated handsets to obtain information and content from designated Internet sites; and access to services offered by third party application providers. It also offers video calls, zone services, location-based services, and other information and content services, such as voice-based information services through interactive voice response platforms, and text-based information services and interactive information services. In addition, the company offers landline transmission and data services to business customers and telecommunications operators, and landline telephony services to selected businesses. As of September 30, 2006, it provided services to approximately 2.83 million subscribers. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Netanya, Israel. Cellcom Israel, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Discount Investment Corporation, Ltd.

Stockerblog - June 16, 2007 - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) makes and sells generic pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical ingredients, and animal health pharmaceuticals. This is one of the longest dividend payers on the list, paying quarterly for over 15 years. The current yield is 1%, the P/E is 17.4, the P/S is 3.4, and the PEG is 1.1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of generic and human pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and animal health pharmaceutical products. It offers generic pharmaceutical products in various dosage forms, including tablets, capsules, ointments, creams, liquids, injectables, and inhalants. The company also provides specialty pharmaceutical products, such as respiratory, bio-generics, and biopharmaceutical products, as well as focuses on hospitals and institutional franchises. In addition, Teva Pharmaceutical provides proprietary research and development pipeline, which focuses primarily on neurological disorders, autoimmune diseases, and oncology. The company produces and sells APIs for respiratory products, dermatological hormones, anti-inflammatories, oncolytics, immunosuppressants, and muscle relaxants, as well as custom-manufactured APIs for drug manufacturers. Further, it manufactures and markets proprietary, as well as generic, veterinary pharmaceutical products, which include antimicrobials, antiparasitics, antipruritics and antiseborrheics, grooming aids, nutraceuticals, and otics. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries sells its generic pharmaceutical products to drug store chains, drug wholesalers, mail order pharmacies, generic distributors, hospitals and affiliated organizations, governmental institutions, and managed care institutions, as well as API products to generic pharmaceutical companies through local subsidiaries or local distributors. The company has strategic alliances with Impax Laboratories, Inc. and Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Petach Tikva, Israel.

Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd. and its subsidiaries develop, market, and support a range of software and hardware products, and services for information technology security worldwide. The company�s products include firewall and VPN security gateways and appliances; dedicated security gateways, including secure remote access solutions and intrusion detection and prevention systems; endpoint security comprising integrity products and SecureClient products, as well as ZoneAlarm security suite; data security products, such as Pointsec PC disk encryption, Pointsec for mobile devices, and Pointsec removable media product family; and security management solutions, which consist of SmartCenter, Eventia, Provider-1, and Security Management Portal. Check Point�s products provide protection for network perimeter that enables authorized users to access network resources and to detect and thwart attacks; against internal threats protecting customers� networks and endpoints from the threats; for Web-based communications allowing remote and mobile employees to securely connect to their organizations� networks through Web browser; for network endpoints with security solutions that address the risks posed by hackers, worms, spyware, and other threats to the internal and remote computers; for data security protecting corporate information stored on mobile computing devices, such as laptops, PDAs, smartphones, and removable media, and controlling data that traverses through security gateways. The company serves enterprises, service providers, small and medium-sized businesses, and consumers. It has strategic relationships with Crossbeam Systems, Inc.; Dell, Inc.; Hewlett-Packard Co.; International Business Machines Corporation (IBM); Nokia Corporation; Nortel Networks Corp.; Siemens AG; and Sun Microsystems, Inc. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Ramat-Gan, Israel.

Stockerblog - June 16, 2007 - The mobile telecommunications company, Partner Communications Co. Ltd. (PTNR), which trades on NASDAQ, has a yield of 4%, based on its last four quarterly dividends. They have paid quarterly dividends for the last seven quarters. The P/E is 14, the P/S is 1.7, and the PEG is 1.15. Partner Communications Company, Ltd. provides mobile telephony and related services primarily based on the global system for mobile communications (GSM) technology in Israel. Its GSM services include standard and enhanced GSM services, as well as value-added services and products, such as roaming, voice mail, voice messaging, color picture messaging, icon, ring tone and game downloads, information services, general packet radio services (GPRS), personal numbering and data, and fax transmission services. The company�s 3G network offers a range of services, such as video calls; portal of content services, including video-based services under the brand name obox live; and the transmission of data at speed of up to 384 Kbps. It also provides HSDPA, a data card modem that enables subscribers to access network at higher speeds. In addition, the company provides international roaming services and offers mobile handsets. It distributes its products and services under the Orange brand through direct sales channel, including partner-owned sales centers and business sales representatives; and through indirect sales channel, including dealers, nontraditional network of retail chains, and stores. As of December 31, 2005, Partner Communications had approximately 2.59 million subscribers. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Rosh Ha-ayin, Israel. Partner Communications Company, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited.

Amdocs - some Israel focused mutual funds include it - not sure why - it's headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri, near St. Louis. Amdocs provides software and services to global communications companies. Its software solutions include customer-relationship, order, and billing management. Its services include system implementation, support, and maintenance. Customers license products either on a stand-alone basis or in a suite via the Amdocs 6 application. The firm also offers directory sales and publishing systems for paper and electronic directories, better known as the white and yellow pages.