Business in Brief

Shaul Elovitch already has racked up NIS 2 billion in profit - on paper - on the Bezeq shares he's buying, thanks to the increase in share price since the deal was signed in October 2009. The deal was set at NIS 8 per share, a half-shekel less than the share price at the time. Yesterday Bezeq closed at NIS 10.44 per share. Anyway, today for the first time he'll be stepping into the company's offices as the owner. Elovitch is expected to finalize the takeover today. He will be handing over NIS 6.5 billion to the Apax group and to media mogul Haim Saban, in exchange for 30.44% of Bezeq's shares. At this stage Shlomo Rodav will continue to chair the phone company, but Elovitch will be joining the board as a regular director. (Amir Teig)

As the global economy shows signs of rallying, tourism is booming anew. Incoming tourism has shot up by 54% this year compared with the same months of 2009, Tourism Ministry figures show. March 2010 brought 313,000 tourists, the highest figure ever posted for that month, and 56% more than the figure for March 2009. Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov says that based on the figures, he's going to demand that his ministry's budget be tripled. The ministry's marketing budget is NIS 124 million this year. If he needs more, he has to beg hat in hand, Misezhnikov says. (Irit Rosenblum)

El Al's management is demanding that employees agree to another $15 million in efficiency measures, due to the airline's difficult financial situation and heavy losses. This is the first time CEO Eliezer Shkedi has asked workers to make sacrifices since he took over at the beginning of the year. El Al lost $76 million in 2009. Management wants workers to give up their 1% annual seniority raises, part of their vacation pay, and cut down on the time crews spend on their layovers in North America. The union called on management to take its own efficiency measures first, such as cutting vice presidents' salaries. El Al refused to comment. (Zohar Blumenkrantz)

The First International Bank (Beinleumi) will pay employees NIS 40 million in bonuses, with each worker getting an additional month's salary. But the bank's union is not satisfied, saying the amounts were not coordinated with it, and therefore employees are continuing their work sanctions - and may even cause additional disruptions. The bonuses will be paid to 2,200 workers and 750 middle managers on May 1, based on the bank's NIS 568 million profit for 2009. The union called the decision unilateral and distorted, and said it does not reflect the bonuses paid by other banks. (Haim Bior)

Prepare your special glasses, folks. And your wallets. Sony and Toshiba reps in Israel say they too will start offering televisions with three-dimensional capacity this June or July. This comes after similar announcements by Samsung and Panasonic. The 3-D screens will be available in 40-inch and 52-inch screens, and will cost NIS 20,000 to NIS 30,000. Each set comes with two pairs of battery-operated 3-D glasses. Another pair will set you back NIS 1,000. Toshiba is offering a 55-inch screen. How much it will cost remains unknown, but its local distributor begs to note that the screen can convert regular a 2-D signal into a 3-D viewing experience in real time. (Barr Hayoun)