Ampal-American Israel Corporation - (NASDAQ:AMPL) today announced that in connection with the previously announced tender offers by Merhav-Ampal Energy Ltd. (“MAE”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ampal, to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock (“Shares”) and convertible debentures ("Debentures") of Gadot Chemical Tankers and Terminals Ltd. ("Gadot"), 16.99% of the outstanding Shares and 66.76% of the Debentures have been validly tendered and not withdrawn.

The completion of the tender offers to purchase the Shares and the Debentures is still subject to the valid tender of a sufficient number of Debenture holders such that Gadot will no longer be a reporting issuer under Israeli law due solely to the outstanding Debentures. In approximately 5 days, MAE will receive a report from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange confirming whether or not the number of remaining Debenture holders (assuming that all tendered Debentures are purchased by MAE) is sufficiently low such that Gadot will not be a reporting issuer due solely to the outstanding Debentures.

If the tender offers for the purchase of the Shares and the Debentures are consummated, MAE will hold all of the outstanding Shares of Gadot (99.99% on a fully diluted basis) and 66.76% of the outstanding Debentures, and in consideration pay a total amount of 83,388,720 NIS ($23,489,780) for the purchase of the tendered Shares and Debentures.

Gadot and its group of companies form Israel's leading chemical distribution organization. Gadot ships, stores, and distributes liquid chemicals, oils, and a large variety of materials to the local industry. Gadot shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol “GDTN.”

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