August 3, 2007 (LPAC)--Heftsiba Global Ltd, one of Israel's largest construction companies is rumored to be bankrupt. The company which has three publicly-listed companies, Heftsiba Global, Heftsiba Jerusalem Gold, and Heftsiba Hofim, is believed to have one billion shekels in debt, close to 250 million dollars. At the same time the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reports that another company, Electra, which just recently bought 90% control of Heftsiba, saw its own stock collapse by 7.6 percent prompting a suspension of its stock trading. Other real estate companies suffered loses on the Tel Aviv stock exchange in the last week as well.

Rumors that Heftsiba was about to go belly up prompted panic among thousands of customers who have paid the company hundreds and thousands of dollars to build houses and apartments in areas beyond the green line, meaning illegal settlements on Palestinian territory in the West Bank. According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, the panic has seen these customers scrambling to illegally occupy their unfinished apartments and houses.