Israel: Historical, Political & Social Aspects

Please join us at the conference on ISRAEL AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS:

Prof Zvi Eckstein is Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel. http://www.bankisrael.gov.il/abeng/eckstaine.htm(more details to follow)

Mr Saul Klein brings over 15 years of experience successfully building and exiting companies in both the US and Europe as an entrepreneur, operator and seed investor. Most recently he was the co-founder and original CEO at what is now Lovefilm International and part of the original executive team at Skype (eBay).He currently sits on boards of: AlertMe, Glasses Direct, Lovefilm, MOO, MyHeritage and Songkick.

Mr. Sever Plocker is the Chief Economics Editor and Commentator of Yedioth Ahronoth, the biggest and most popular daily newspaper in Israel. In various stages of his career he provided economic consultations to businesses, financial institutions, Bank of Israel, Ministers of Finance and Prime Ministers of Israel. He published hundreds o/f articles and commentaries in Hebrew and English and appears frequently on radio and television programs. During the fall and winter of 2003 Mr. Plocker was a visiting fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution where he analyzed the economic crisis in Israel and published a research paper.

Mr. Plocker won three prestigious prizes for journalism in Israel: the prize to the leading Business and Economics Editor given by the Social and Economic Research Institute in Jerusalem, the National Sokolov Prize for outstanding achievements in journalism, given on the 50th anniversary of Israeli Independence and in 2009 the first Tel Aviv University Prize for Excellence in Journalism ("Israeli Pulitzer"). Mr. Plocker is a Media Leader of World Economic Forum in Davos.

Pinchas Landau is an economic and financial analyst, serving as a consultant to major financial institutions in Israel and abroad on domestic and global developments.

After working in banking and investment, he moved to journalism in 1983 and served as financial correspondent of the Jerusalem Post and then as senior columnist for Globes, Israel’s business daily. He has written for many international newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and Barrons, as well as numerous professional publications. Since 1996, Pinchas has been writing and publishing The Landau Report, a unique newsletter service which analyses economic, business and financial trends in Israel, as well as tracking Israeli and regional geo-political affairs and has attracted a global subscriber base. He has also been providing quarterly and annual reports on Israel for the Economist Intelligence Unit for 25 years.

Born in London and educated at the London School of Economics, he and his family have been living in Jerusalem since 1976.

Prof Joseph Zeira is a Professor of Economics in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in LUISS Guido Carli in Rome. Joseph’s main area of research and teaching is Macroeconomics. He specialize in Economic Growth, Information and Macroeconomics, Money and Inflation, Fiscal Policy, and the Economy of Israel. He also participate in the AIX Group, which unites Israeli and Palestinian economists who study the economic aspects of a future two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Izik Kirshenbaum is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Siklu Inc, developer of the ground breaking Wireless Backhaul mmWave point to point systems.

Izik was the Co General Manager of Intel’s Broadband Wireless Division (BWD) that was responsible for WiMAX (business & engineering) within Intel’s Mobility Group. Izik joined Intel through the acquisition of Envara in May 2004.

Envara was a WiFi Chipset startup company founded in 2000. Izik was co-founder and CEO of Envara and led it for 4 years to the successful development and sales of WiFi 802.11bg and 802.11abg products. The company raised $40M from a series of investors in Israel, Europe and APAC.

Before Envara, Izik worked for more than 17 years at the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) Electronics Research Department (ERD), dealing with data and telecommunications systems, with a strong emphasis on wireless communication. Izik is a two-time recipient of the Israel Defense Award, Israel’s most prestigious recognition for technological innovation and contribution to national security

Izik holds a B.Sc. (Cum Laude) from Ben Gurion University, and M.Sc. (Summa Cum Laude) from Tel Aviv University, both in Electronics Engineering. Izik is also Co-Founder & Chairman of Vascure Ltd (Medical Devices), and serves on the  Advisory Board of Solar Edge.

Ehud Levy is a Managing Partner at Vertex Venture Capital with approximately two decades of experience in the high-tech industry. He has vast knowledge and expertise in the areas of investment and finance, management and operations, and entrepreneurship. Ehud co-founded and was Chairman & CEO of Ki-Bi Mobile Technologies, the mass-market device specialist for mobile content distribution, where he led the business from concept to commercial success of about one million units sold, strong brand recognition, IPO in London, and its eventual takeover. Ehud functioned as a director and partner at STI Ventures, a venture capital firm, where he led investments and worked closely with founders on appreciating value of companies. Earlier in his career, as COO and CFO of the telecommunications company, Telegate Ltd., Ehud played a major role in turning the company into a success story and was responsible for the implementation of an extensive restructuring plan which culminated in the acquisition of the company for over $400 million by Terayon (TERN). Ehud also served as a private equity investor and an investment banker in New York and Tel Aviv with Oscar Gruss & Son (now CIBC - Oppenheimer Israel). At Oscar Gruss, Ehud conducted investment activities focusing on Israeli hi-tech industry. In New York, he worked on public equity transactions and financial advisory assignments. Ehud holds a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering (with honors) from the Technion, and an MBA from Columbia University in New York.

Aaron Mankovski's tenure in venture capital started in 1996. He co-founded Eucalyptus Ventures in 1997, and has served as Managing Director since that time. He joined the Pitango team as a Managing General Partner with the combination of the Eucalyptus and Pitango management groups in April 2000. 
Mr. Mankovski has 16 years of experience in Executive Management (CEO, Sales and Marketing) in the high-technology sector in Israel and abroad. Prior to founding Eucalyptus, he served as Corporate Vice President of Orbotech Ltd (NASDAQ: ORBK), responsible for worldwide operations, sales and customer support (US, Europe and Asia Pacific)
Prior to assuming that position, Mr. Mankovski served as President and CEO of Orbotech Inc., where he also guided the merger of Orbot and Optrotech that led to the establishment of Orbotech. He previously was a sales executive at IBM. He also served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force. 
Mr. Mankovski holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Statistics from Tel Aviv University. 
Mr. Mankovski served on the Board of Directors of Chromatis Networks (sold to Lucent for $4.75 billion). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Optimal-Test, Precede Technologies, Kilopass Technology Inc, Compass-EOS, Sterna Technologies and Jinko Solar in China.

Dr. Osnat Emanuel is the founder of ‘Seriously Kidding’™, an invention house specialized in creating innovative products for children. She was co-founder of Comfy and the inceptor of the Comfy™ Keyboard, the first computerized toy for toddlers. Osnat was the designer and project manager for ‘Hop! Lomdim’ an interactive TV channel for children 18 month old and is the inventor, product and marketing manager for DVD MagIQ™, a collaborative Doll-DVD product. Osnat's products were translated to more than 17 languages and are being sold world-wide. Osnat also works with Cisco and the Peres Center for Peace on “bridging gaps using technology” between Israeli and Palestinian youngsters. Osnat holds M.D. from the Tel-Aviv University, Israel, and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. www.seriouslykidding.com

Gilad Harish divides his time in three different activities:

Full time practicing law,  in his own law firm, specializing in commercial litigation and commercial transactions.

Welfare activity: Gilad is the founder, chair and CEO of Lasova – a highly respected NGO in Israel ,operating Soup Kitchens, Homeless Shelters, after-school  Centers for kids at risk of needy families, Re-habilitation of drug abused ex-convicts,  and a program for rehab of  homeless people towards employment.    For more details please see: www.lasova.org.il.

Studies - Gilad has recently graduated, with excellence, his M.A degree from the Tel-Aviv University/  History of the Middle East, and is proceeding towards the PhD degree in this field.