ISRAEL DIGEST'
Specially compiled by The Jerusalem Post
$1 EQUALS 2.8640 NIS (shekels) - Close Price 8127193 —
ADL Questions Saudi Bid
Saudi Arabia's recent
application to join the
General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
led the Anti-Defamation
League this week to urge
Secretary of State Warren
Christopher to press if
they truly intend to termi-
nate their boycott of Israel.
"The GATT accessions
process provides the U.S.
with an opportunity to
obtain solid commitments
that Saudi Arabia will
deliver on its pledge to
renounce the secondary
boycott," ADL National
Director Abraham Foxman
wrote to Mr. Christopher.
According to statistics
obtained by the ADL from
the Commerce Depart-
ment's Office of Anti-boy-
cott Compliance, the
Saudis attempted 40 per-
cent more times to obtain
boycott compliance during
the second quarter of 1993
than during the same peri-
od last year.
Complying with the
Arab boycott is illegal
under U.S. law.
Electra Goes To China
Robert Levin and Allen Gross assess the damage at the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit.
Attorneys Michael Fabian
and Stuart Sklar also call
themselves advocates. Their
Farmington Hills-based law
firm specializes in repre-
senting homeowners and
business-owners in property
"A vast majority
of property claims
are handled
without legal
counsel or public
adjustors."
Terry Buckles
insurance disputes with
their insurance companies.
"This law firm was estab-
lished with the intent that
the insured would have
lawyers who specialize in
this area," Mr. Fabian
said."The insurance compa-
nies have experts who only
handle these cases. To me,
this indicated there should
be someone on the other
side doing the same thing
for businesses and home-
owners."
In fact, Mr. Fabian and
Mr. Sklar often work with
Globe Midwest and other
public adjustors.
"Our job is to interpret
their policy and render legal
advice and to make sure
their legal rights are pro-
tected," Mr. Sklar said.
Their law firm was suc-
cessful in taking: a few cases
to both the Michigan, Court
of Appeals and the
Michigan Supreme Court,
which established new
precedents that help people
recoup losses under their
insurance policies.
In one case that Mr.
Fabian and Mr. Sklar suc-
cessfully argued before the
Michigan Supreme Court, a
poor person was accused by
an insurance company of
committing arson. The com-
pany refused to pay the
claim.
In 1992, the state
Supreme Court ruled that
insurance companies can no
longer use low socio-eco-
nomic status as evidence
that a person committed
arson or insurance fraud.
Mr. Fabian and Mr. Sklar
and their associates also
handle small claims that
financially may not be
worth litigating but could
have implications on future
cases.
Adjustors and attorneys
agree that people don't
always know what they are
entitled to under their
insurance policies. When
disaster strikes, it can be
difficult to know exactly
what to expect when filing a
claim.
"Some cases deal with the
interpretation of policy dis-
putes. Each provision is
subject to interpretation.
Insurance companies are in
business to make money if
they can. If they can inter-
pret the policy to save
money, then they are going
to do it," Mr. Fabian said.
"When suddenly your
business or home is
destroyed, your life is put
into turmoil and in most
cases people have never
been through it before," Mr.
Gross said. ❑
Electra Consumer Pro-
ducts, a wholly-owned
Israeli subsidiary of Elco,
will set up an air-condi-
tioner factory in China, the
company announced.
The factory will be set
up in partnership with a
Chinese company which
manufactures air condi-
tioners. A memorandum of
understanding between
the two companies was
signed earlier this week
during a visit by Chinese
officials to Electra's factory
in Rishon Lezion.
The factory will manu-
facture and market more
than 100,000 air condition-
ers annually beginning in
1994. Electra will own 55
percent of the firm and the
Chinese company 45 per-
cent. The deal is subject to
contract and the approval
of the Chinese authorities.
ECI Shares Surge
ECI Telecom shares
surged on Wall Street last
week following the compa-
ny's announcement that it
has received an order for
access multiplexers worth
DM 102 million from
Deutsche Bundespost
Telecom.
In late morning trading,
ECI shares were up $1 at
$43.
The order, worth about
$60 million at current
exchange rates, went to a
wholly owned subsidiary of
the Petah Tikvah-based
company, ECI Telecom.
"The new order is the
largest ever received by
the company from any cus-
tomer," said David Rubner,
ECI's president and chief
executive officer. "The
receipt of an order of this
magnitude demonstrates
the continued confidence of
the DBP-T in the compa-
ny's ability to deliver state-
of-the-art telecommunica-
tions equipment on sched-
ule."
Lawsuit Seeks Documentation
A lawsuit has been filed in
Tel Aviv District Court
requesting Interpharm
Laboratories of Ness Ziona
to produce documentation
to determine what royalty
obligations Interpharm
has to a New York investor
being liquidated.
The lawsuit was filed by
the liquidator of the New
York-based Israel Bio-
Engineering Project, which
invested in Interpharm's
subsidiary, Interlab.
Loan Guarantees To Help
El Al, Israel Electric
Michael Fabian and Stuart Sklar
settle millions of doi:ar5
in claims a year.
The Treasury will grant
$800 million in loan guar-
antees to the Israel
Electric Corporation and
$274 million to El Al Israel
Airlines to enable the com-
panies to borrow from local
banks and take advantage
of U.S. loan guarantee
funds.
Finance Minister Avra-
ham Shohat last week
asked the Knesset finance
committee to approve the
loan guarantees, which
will be used to expand the
companies' investments
and development.
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