Ampal-American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq: AMPL), a holding company with experience in acquiring interests in various businesses with emphasis in recent years on energy and related fields, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2008, revenues increased to $153.9 million, compared to revenues of $0.7 million for the corresponding period of 2007.

Net loss for the quarter was ($17.4) million, or ($0.3) per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of ($3.2) million, or ($0.06) per basic and diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2007.

The ($17.4) million net loss for the quarter includes a loss of ($16.8) million from the devaluation of the US Dollar against the New Israeli Shekel and the increase of the Israeli Consumer Price Index.

Weighted average shares outstanding used in the calculation of earnings per share for the three months ended June 30, 2008 and the three months ended June 30, 2007 were approximately 57.7 million and 49.4 million shares, respectively.

The Company also noted that for the six-month period ended June 30, 2008, revenues increased to $282.6 million compared to revenues of $1.8 million for the corresponding period of 2007.

Net loss for the six month period was ($27.6) million, or ($0.48) per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of ($8.2) million, or ($0.17) per basic and diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2007.

Weighted average shares outstanding used in the calculation of earnings per share for the six months ended June 30, 2008 and the six months ended June 30, 2007 were approximately 57.7 million and 47.6 million shares, respectively.

As of June 30, 2008, the Company had cash, including short-term investments, of $212 million. Ampal ended the quarter with total assets of $1001.4 million and shareholders' equity of $245.1 million, as compared to total assets of $774.8 million and shareholders’ equity of $258.4 million at December 31, 2007.

About Ampal:

Ampal and its subsidiaries acquire interests primarily in businesses located in the State of Israel or that are Israel-related. The Company is seeking opportunistic situations in a variety of industries, with a focus on energy and related sectors. The Company’s goal is to develop or acquire majority interests in businesses that are profitable and generate significant free cash flow that Ampal can control. For more information about Ampal please visit our web site at www.ampal.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain information in this press release includes forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) and information relating to Ampal that are based on the beliefs of management of Ampal as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the management of Ampal. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," and similar expressions as they relate to Ampal or Ampal's management, identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of Ampal with respect to future events or future financial performance of Ampal, the outcome of which is subject to certain risks and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including among others, the economic and political conditions in Israel, the Middle East, including the situation in Iraq, and the global business and economic conditions in the different sectors and markets where Ampal's portfolio companies operate. Should any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcome may vary from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Ampal or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph. Please refer to the Ampal's annual, quarterly and periodic reports on file with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of these and other risks that could cause results to differ materially. Ampal assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Ampal-American Israel Corporation
Irit Eluz, 1-866-447-8636
CFO - SVP Finance & Treasurer
irit@ampal.com
or
KM/KCSA Investor Relations
Roni Gavrielov, 011-972-3-516-7620
roni@km-ir.co.il
or
Jeff Corbin / Marybeth Csaby / David Burke
212-896-1214 / 212-896-1236 / 212-896-1258
jcorbin@kcsa.com / mcsaby@kcsa.com / dburke@kcsa.com