'Protesters, come to Galilee!"

Philanthropist urges young protesters to ditch Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for the North; Netanya Academic College founder Dr. Yehuda Kahane named winner of 2011 John S. Bickley Founder's Award; Japanese Embassy to host artist Fanya Pines in Tel Aviv's Museum Tower.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Galilee 311 (photo credit: Israel21C)
Galilee 311
(photo credit: Israel21C)
■ AS TENT cities continued to grow across the national landscape, philanthropist and industrial parks pioneer Stef Wertheimer urged many of the young protesters to forget about living in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, and instead come and help develop Galilee by making their homes there and working in local industry. Wertheimer issued the call at a ceremony celebrating the 20th birthday of the Tel Hai Industrial Park, where he was presented with a pictorial citation featuring the Davidka mortar, which he helped develop during the War of Independence. The inscription on the citation read: “To Stef, the dreamer, the initiator, the inventor and the builder, today as in the past, acting for the sake of peace.”
Among those attending the ceremony was student activist Keren Azuz, a second-year social work student who is leading the student protest in the Kiryat Shmona region. Wertheimer had seen her on television and been impressed. He wanted to talk to her personally and get across the message of the importance of more young families and young singles settling in Galilee and contributing to its development.
The region still has relatively large sections of open space on which to build. So, for that matter, does the Negev. The key question is: Will the bureaucratically strapped Israel Lands Authority free up the land for building? One of several industrial parks created by Wertheimer, the Tel Hai Industrial Park, where industry and arts are fused, opened in 1992. In addition to industrial enterprises, it houses The Open Museum of Photography, Israel’s only photography museum.
■ NETANYA ACADEMIC College is basking in the reflected glory of its founder, Dr. Yehuda Kahane, now of Tel Aviv University, who has been named the winner for 2011 of the International Insurance Society’s (IIS) prestigious John S. Bickley Founder’s Award. He was honored at a gala dinner at the IIS 47th Annual Seminar, which took place recently at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
The John S. Bickley Founder’s Award Gold Medal for Excellence recipient is elected by secret ballot by the IIS Honors Committee, a body of senior insurance executives and leading academicians, and honors individuals who have made a significant, lasting and recognized contribution to insurance thought, product, practice or education.
“We are very pleased to honor Dr. Kahane for his contributions to our industry. He is a recognized leader of insurance education worldwide, as well as a renowned entrepreneur and innovator,” said Bernhard Fink, IIS Honors Committee chairman.
Kahane, who is head of the Alfred Akirov Institute for Business and Environment at TAU, is an influential figure in the insurance industry and actuarial profession, regarded as a seminal thinker and prominent insurance educator and researcher. He is also an active entrepreneur in both the academic and business worlds. His activities have had a substantial impact on the insurance industry in the broadest sense, especially in Israel, but also in Portugal and in countries of the former Soviet Union.
An internationally renowned pioneer of new concepts and ideas, he has served as adviser to companies on important insurance issues for more than four decades. The celebrated author and speaker, who has challenged the industry to implement innovations, is ranked among the most prolific researchers in insurance.
■ THE JAPANESE Embassy is providing art lovers with a rare opportunity to meet and listen to artist Fanya Pines, who will give the gallery talk today at 10 a.m. in the embassy’s library in Tel Aviv’s Museum Tower, where there is also an exhibition of her art. The meeting will be moderated by Tirtza Paitan-Sela, head of SHODO – The Chinese-Japanese Calligraphy School. The event will be conducted in Hebrew, with admission free of charge.
■ HERZLIYA MAYOR Yael German has carried out many different duties during her years in office, but never before has she been one of the central figures at the launch of an embassy. Korean Ambassador Young-Sam Ma purchased land in the Herzliya Pituah industrial zone two years ago for the purpose of constructing an embassy. There was a lot of red tape to cut, and German was one of the people who helped him do it. She was on hand this week for the unveiling of a poster board announcing the site of the new embassy, which is the first piece of property Korea has purchased in the Holy Land.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who was also present and who also assisted Ma in overcoming bureaucratic snarls, noted the importance of owning rather than renting premises, and said he hoped there would be many other similar events in Herzliya. Then – realizing that this did not quite fit in with government policy – he added, “before they eventually move to Jerusalem.”
■ HOT ON the heels of Expo Klita 2011 at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds came Aliya, held on Wednesday of this week at the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Academic College, and organized by South African/Australian/Israeli social entrepreneur Kevin Nafte through Tela Livit, the social entrepreneurship organization he founded. Nafte is also head coach of the Israel/Palestine AFL Peres Peace Team, and during the tenure of the previous Australian ambassador James Larsen he worked as assistant to the ambassador. He was also assistant public diplomacy officer at the Australian Embassy. Participants in the seminar did a lot of networking and also heard about how to find a job in Israel, as well as lots of success stories despite the hardships.