Business Scene

Canadian tycoon & philanthropist Gerry Schwartz and his wife have won many honors and awards, but also know how to give them out as well.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
GERRY SCHWARTZ 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy )
GERRY SCHWARTZ 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy )
FORMER ISRAEL Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi who resigned in February this year, following findings by the Zeiler Commission which concluded that police had grossly mishandled the murder investigation in the Perinian affair, has a new job. Karadi is moving into the private sector joining Delek Pi-Glilot, which coordinates supplies, storage and distribution for Delek service stations in Jerusalem, Ashdod and Beersheba. Delek CEO Eyal Lapidot this week announced the appointment of Karadi as general manager of Delek Pi-Glilot. Karadi, 47, has a Bachelor's degree in criminology from Bar-Ilan University and a Master's degree in public administration from the University of Haifa. He served as a paratrooper in the IDF, and on leaving the army in 1984, joined the Border Police and rose in the ranks until he reached the top position in the police force. Lapidot said that he was convinced that Karadi's knowledge and experience would contribute greatly to Delek's business strategy. ISRAEL MANUFACTURERS' Association President Shraga Brosh has initiated a think tank dedicated to the advancement of Israel's society, economy and industry. The Government-Industry Forum comprising senior government representatives, members of Knesset, representatives of the Union of Local Authorities and industrialists convened for the first time last week at the Association's headquarters in Tel Aviv. The forum will meet on a quarterly basis to discuss the urgent social and economic issues of the day. Brosh noted that industry played the most central role in Israel's economy, and therefore everything must be done to advance it, but this ambition would be successful only if more were done for the betterment of society as a whole. Without discussing what needs to be done, nothing could and nothing would be done, he said. Among those present were Ra'anan Dinur, Director-General of the Prime Minister's Office; Yoram Ariav, Director-General of the Finance Ministry; Prof. Manuel Trachtenberg, head of the National Economics Council; Prof. Tzvika Eckstein, deputy to the Governor of the Bank of Israel; Amir Barkan, head of the Economic Division of the Prime Minister's Office; Boaz Hirsh, Deputy Director- General of the Ministry of Industry and Trade; MK Stas Misezhnikov, Chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee; MK Gilad Erdan, Chairman of the Knesset Economics Committee; Yaacov Agmon, Director- General of the Union of Local Authorities; and several leading industrialists. IT'S HOMECOMING time for best-selling Israeli-born author John Assaraf, who is one of the heros of Rhonda Byrne's book and subsequent film The Secret which through 25 teachers conveys the message of the power of positive thinking. Raised in Tel Aviv, Assaraf, who authored his own best-selling book Having it All which teaches how to turn your life around, and through personal transformation motivation and business management to achieve your goals for happiness and riches, built up a multi-million dollar empire by the time he was 30, will be coming to Israel in December. Assaraf, who lives in the US, subscribes to the theory that the body releases chemicals connected with the nature of one's thoughts. Thus if one has positive thoughts, the body gives off a positive vibration, and if one has negative thoughts, then the body gives off a negative vibration. The idea is to think positive. Among other things, Assaraf, who has built up four major companies of his own, is an international consultant who helps people to expand their businesses and to find more wealth and happiness by using the right mental strategies. Assaraf is coming to Israel under the auspices of "The Masters," which brings world famous business personalities to meet with members of Israel's business community and aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs. ANOTHER SALE will take place at the Arim Mall in the Sharon area following the "Shocking Sale" at the Azrieli mall last week. The "Stock Day" sale at the Arim mall will take place from November 27 through November 29 at an investment of NIS 250,000. Most of the chain stores in the Arim Mall also have branches in Azrieli. Discounts available on merchandise from most of these stores are up to 70 percent. IT LOOKS as if the third generation of the Koffler family is all set to go into the pharma business. Shawn Koffler son of Leon Koffler, who is one of the proprietors of the SuperPharm group, and the grandson of Canadian businessman, pharmacist and philanthropist Murray Koffler who created Shoppers Drug Mart, accompanied his father to the annual SuperPharm fair at which SuperPharm displayed samples of the huge variety of merchandise which it stocks. Shawn, who recently completed his army duty, was asked if he intended to join the family business. The reply was affirmative, but business is not his immediate priority. First he's going to the US to complete his studies - and after that he'll take some of the load off Dad. GERMANY WOULD try to solve some of the more pressing and specific problems of Holocaust survivors, Peter Steinbruck, Germany's Federal Minister for Finance said to Noah Flug, the chairman of the Center for Holocaust Survivors in Israel as reported. However at the same time he had no intention of renegotiating the 1952 Luxembourg Agreement signed between Israel, Germany and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Steinbruck who was in Israel to receive an Honorary Fellowship from the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, was quoted in the Hebrew and German press to have agreed to help needy survivors via the Claims Conference. The point of contention surrounds those Holocaust survivors who fled during the war to the Soviet Union and who were not included in the original agreement. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain many of these survivors have come to Israel, but live in the most dire economic circumstances. Pensioners Affairs Minister Rafi Eitan has been campaigning on their behalf, and though keen for Germany to find a way to help these people, has not asked for the agreement to be renegotiated. CANADIAN BUSINESS tycoon and philanthropist Gerry Schwartz and his wife Heather Reisman, a successful businesswoman in her own right, have won many honors and awards, but also know how to give them out as well. Among the various Israeli causes that they support is 'Heseg' (achievement), a four-year, full scholarship program that Schwartz launched in 2005 to enable lone soldiers serving in Israel to continue with their education. Towards the end of last week, the couple came to Israel to distribute 120 such scholarships in the presence of Heseg board members Ofra Strauss and Shlomo Nehama as well as IDF Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter. On the following day, the couple and the beneficiaries of their generosity scaled Masada where they met with Opposition Leader and former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.