Walla!

Walla! is an Israeli web portal, providing news, search and e-mail, among other things. One of the first Israeli internet portals, Walla! is considered as one of the most popular web sites in the country. As of August 2011, Alexa rankings put it in the top 9 sites by traffic originating in Israel. The portal was founded by Erez Pilosof and Gadi Hadar in 1995, and soon afterwards acquired by "Mashov Computers Marketing", a member of The Mashov Group headed by Yaki Dunietz and David Assia. In 1998, the company, traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, changed its name to "Walla! Communications Ltd". In the same year, the company was acquired by Formula Systems, headed by Dan Goldstein, and in 2001 it merged with IOL, a similar site run by the Haaretz Group. Walla! provides news from Israel and around the world, 24 hours a day. Most news stories that appear in Walla! come from the Haaretz Group, news agencies and other content providers. However, during the year 2006, Walla! started building an independent news and editorial staff, which produces original news stories and special features. In addition, Walla!