December 10, 2007 / 1 Tevet  5768

In its effort to strengthen the global Jewish people, the Jewish Agency is committed to developing new forms of partnerships between Israel and world Jewry. For well over a decade, it has created a major network of ties through its flagship Partnership 2000 program. Today, the Jewish Agency has initiated the start of a new partnership -- Business-to-Business (B2B) -- as it brings together two of its most important constituencies: Israeli and Diaspora Jewish business leaders.

Just as business leadership has proven to be integral partners in the development of civic society overseas, undoubtedly Israeli and Diaspora business leaders can join forces to advance the agenda of the State of Israel and the Jewish people at large in unprecedented ways. We have been witness to this in limited forms in Partnership 2000 but believe that the time has come to expand this in a much bigger way.

The Jewish Agency kicked off this new dialogue and exploration on Sunday, December 9th at 5:00 -6:30 pm at the Globes Israel Business Conference, in Tel Aviv, when it convened a panel entitled: "Business to Business: The Role of Israel and Global Jewish Business Leadership". The panel was facilitated by Mr. Phil Blazer, Founder and CEO of Jewish Life TV and featured keynote speaker Mr. Zeev Bielski, Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency. Other distinguished speakers from the business world included Mr. Yossi Ackerman, President and CEO of Elbeit Industries, Ms. Talia Aharoni, President and Founder of “MAALA”, Mr. Gary Heiman, President and CEO, Standard Textile Co, and Mr. Dov Lautman, Chairman of the Board of Delta Galil Industries.