ISRAEL 
HIGH-TECH & INVESTMENT REPORT

from the September 2002 issue


Elul and Tishri

The Hebrew month of Elul, has been allocated a high ranking in the Jewish calendar. It precedes the month of Tishri, when the Jewish High Holiday cycle begins with the celebration of Rosh Hashana, the New Year and culminates with Yom Kippur, the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar ---the Day of Atonement. Many Israelis spend the day in prayer and yet others like myself, though a resident of Tel-Aviv, choose to spend the 24 hour fast, in Jerusalem.

I am aware of how dramatically and deeply the world has changed for my American friends in the past year. It is not difficult to empathize with them. For those of us who live in Israel, our daily routine has been unalterably changed since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising two years ago. The uprising began, after the most generous offer ever made by an Israeli government to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict, was refused by the Palestinian Authority. Twenty four months later, the PA and the various terrorist groups, daily still send murderous gunmen and suicide bombers, bent on murdering civilians in all parts of Israel. Who can not recall parodying the eternally concerned Yiddishe Momma? Among the various bits of advice, nowadays, she is likely, to tell her son: "Israel is not a safe place for a nice Jewish boy to visit".

The US State Department is also extending similar advice in the form of travel warnings. In an unprecedented response, the nice Jewish boys and youth from various parts of the globe are not heeding that advice. Justin, a 16 year old from Sidney, is here. He is delighted to be participating in an overseas students summer program at the Haifa based Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology. Justin never thought of cutting short his stay after the murderous attack on students at the Hebrew University campus on Mt. Scopus, in Jerusalem. Of the nine students slaughtered, five were American. An explosion, caused by a bomb planted in the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria took their lives. This past week, close to 70 students arrived at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to participate in the International Summer University program. Though the majority of students are from Germany and the United States, there are participants from Trinidad, India, Nepal, Sweden, France and Switzerland.

Our source at the university reports that despite the situation in Israel, many students have decided to continue with their plans to study in Beer-Sheva. While there has been a noticeable decline in enrollment in the general Overseas Student Program over the past two years, only one student dropped out of the BGU program after the attack on Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A new student registered on the same day and it left the overall number unaffected. On a different level, most foreign investors and businessmen, are staying away in droves.

However, though not reported in the local press, the CEO of a leading American medical systems company recently signed an OEM deal which includes an equity investment, in addition to millions of dollars of orders for the Israeli company. Prior to the signing, he visited the Israeli company to meet the management and view its unique "miniature medical camera systems". As Elul has arrived and Tishri is nearly here, I expect that in the New Year I, and the rest of Israel will experience fears of terror inflicted upon us by Islamic Weapons of Mass Destruction. That scenario, is most likely, after America moves to depose Saddam Hussein. Israel has been publicly threatened by the autocratic despot from Bagdad, to become the target of "dirty missiles". Allaying my fears, are the expressions of solidarity of foreign students, coming to Israel to study. Also, contrary to the generally held views, American executives attracted by unique Israeli technology continue to travel here and enter into what the trade describes as "win-win" deals.



Reprinted from the Israel High-Tech & Investment Report September 2002

Click HERE to request further information.
Click HERE to go BACK.