Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) is in no hurry to shelve its ambition to take over Israel Military Industries Ltd.. "We haven't given up on this one. We have already said everything that can be said to those who need to hear. We have made ourselves clear to the powers that be. They understand the advantages and disadvantages of every move, both in the short and long terms. We are sure that, in the end, common sense will win out and they will reach the right decision," Elbit Systems president and CEO Joseph Ackerman told "Globes" today.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Finance are working on the plan to merge IMI into Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. This is also disappointing to Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1), which, like Elbit Systems, has expressed interest in taking over IMI. Tomorrow (Thursday), Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz will meet to discuss the proposal to merge IMI into Rafael. The meeting was described by sources close to the negotiations on the matter as "decisive".
IMI workers committee chairman Itzik Yehuda told "Globes" today, "I want to make something clear to the people in the Ministry of Finance, the senior officials in the Government Companies Authority, in the Budgets Division, the commissioner of wages, and the minister of finance himself: without the IMI workers and the Histadrut, nothing will happen, but nothing. We welcome the merger being formulated with Rafael. It's positive. But without agreement on severance terms for the company's workers and working conditions in the new format, we will go to war. It will be a war no less fierce than we waged at the time against the intention to privatize the company.
"There is no choice. Simply none. Privatization is unthinkable, because people will start to understand how unwise it is. No-one wants some chain of business events to end with control of IMI falling into the hands of a Saudi billionaire. The defense industry must be close to the state, so that, at the moment of truth, it can serve the country's security needs. The moment of truth is close, believe me."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 19, 2011
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