News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer is confident that Israel will weather the economic storm that is battering the United States, albeit not without a few bumps along the way.

Fischer told reporters Tuesday that "the Israeli market is subject to the tremors experienced by the US market and that is a reality we have to face. However," he added, "the Israeli economy and its financial establishment are faring well."

The US Federal Reserve in the past two weeks has bailed out insurance giant A.I.G., as well as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America in a last-minute save, while the venerated Lehman Brothers investment bank was allowed to take the heat for the economy and didn't merit a bailout from the government. Lehman Brothers was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection instead.