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Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION

I, Jack Bigio, certify that:

|1. | I
have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Ampal - American Israel Corporation;
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|2. | Based
on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact
              or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in
light of the               circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the               period covered by this report;
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|3. | Based
on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in
              this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial
condition, results of               operations and cash flows of the registrant as of,
and for, the periods presented in this               report;
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|4. | The
registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and
              maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act
Rules 13a-15(e)               and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:
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| | a) | Designed
such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls
                    and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that
material                     information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is                     made known to us by others within those
entities, particularly during the period in                     which this report is
being prepared;
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| | b) | Evaluated
the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and
                    presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of
the disclosure                     controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
covered by this report based on                     such evaluation; and
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| | c) | Disclosed
in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial
                    reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal
quarter (the                     registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
annual report) that has materially                     affected, or is reasonably likely
to materially affect, the registrant's internal                     control over
financial reporting; and
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|5. | The
registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent
evaluation of               internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit               committee of the registrant's board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent               functions):
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| | a) | All
significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of
                    internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely
to adversely                     affect the registrant's ability to record, process,
summarize and report financial                     information; and
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| | b) | Any
fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who
                    have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over
financial reporting.
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|Date: | August 12, 2004 | /S/ Jack Bigio
Jack BigioPresident and Chief Executive Officer
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