Business Scene

Geula Even has been courted by Channels 2 and 10, and the IBA doesn't want to lose her.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Geula Even 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Geula Even 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
SHE WAS considered a natural to succeed Haim Yavin as Mabat news anchor on Channel 1 a little over a decade ago when he left to take up an offer with Channel 2. But after 10 months with a commercial channel, Yavin returned to the Israel Broadcasting Authority and was welcomed with open arms and a big, fat salary. Geula Even was thrust to the sidelines, despite her popularity with viewers, her intelligence, her vast knowledge, her polite and respectful attitude to interviewees, and her attractive appearance. She was compensated six years ago when she became the anchor for the weekend news diary. Then when Yavin finally announced his resignation last year, it looked as if Even would succeed Mr. Television as Ms. Television. But although the IBA wanted her to do Yavin's job, it was not prepared to pay her Yavin's salary, and instead took on Merav Miller and Yinon Magal, who together earn somewhat more than the salary Even reportedly asked for, and who separately and together are nowhere near her level of professionalism. Despite the great job she does on Friday nights, Even feels she has exhausted her potential on the program and has notified IBA management that she no longer wants to anchor it. Instead, she would rather have a new, hard-hitting, current-affairs program. It's a well-known fact that Even has been courted by Channels 2 and 10, and the IBA certainly doesn't want to lose her. So on top of all their other troubles, IBA director-general Moti Sklar, IBA chairman Moshe Gavish and Israel Television News director Uri Levi now have the double headache of trying to create a new slot for Even and finding a suitable successor to take her place as weekend diary anchor. IT CANNOT be denied that Nochi Dankner has the Midas touch and that nearly everything he handles turns to gold. Case in point is Supersol, in which IDB, headed by Dankner, has the controlling interest. Supersol recorded an 18 percent increase in sales for the second quarter of 2008. Admittedly, the period included Pessah, when people spend more in a week than they usually do in a month, but even so, an 18% hike is a big deal, especially when the sum amounts to NIS 2.79 billion and results in a net profit of NIS 101 million. DIFFERENT THINGS have their own special appeal for different people, so that someone who may collect pens, as does Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, may not be interested in collecting other objects that take up a lot more room and often demand more care. Hotelier David Fattal collects hotels - both in Israel and abroad. He's just bumped up his Israeli collection by two, having purchased two Eilat facilities from Yitzhak Tshuva for NIS 195m. The two hotels, the Golden Tulip Club and the Golden Tulip Privilege, were previously managed by his company. Negotiations for the purchase began several months ago and were recently completed. Fattal Hotel Management now owns and/or manages 20 hotels in Israel and 48 in Europe. Up until a decade ago, Haifa-born Fattal was running other people's businesses, mostly as general manager of prestigious hotels around the country. Then in 1996 he hit the big time and became managing director of Africa Israel Hotels and Resorts. After two years at the helm, he decided he could run his own company and in 1998 founded Fattal Hotel Management, little realizing at the time just how successful he would be. Three years ago he ventured beyond Israel, investing in and managing hotels in Europe. Having tasted success there, he may be persuaded to try his luck in Asia. AT THE Manufacturers Association of Israel, women broke through the glass ceiling quite some time ago and have no trouble competing. They are chosen or elected time and again on the basis of merit and not on gender. One of the most obvious examples is the recent election of Liora Langer to chair the association's management forum. Langer, who was elected unanimously, is not a token symbol. Her predecessor, Ronit Shklaier, is also a woman. Langer is the deputy director for export and overseas marketing at Office Textile. Married and the mother of two, she is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a degree in international relations. She is also a graduate of the College of Management's director's. Her position with the forum is for a two-year period. ALTHOUGH duty-free products sold in flight generally tend to be far from budget-priced, it appears that El Al is on the verge of making an exception to the rule. It is negotiating with Pnina Rosenblum to sell her products to passengers onboard. Most of her merchandise is easily affordable, so if the deal goes through, it means that those people who have barely scraped together the money to fly tourist class, will be able to purchase something from the trolley just like their more affluent neighbors. TEL AVIV University has elected Prof. Thelma Liebel to its executive board. Liebel previously headed the psychology department and later served as dean of students. She earned her doctorate at TAU and then attended Harvard for post-doctoral studies, where served as a visiting professor. THE INSTITUTE for Child Development at the Loewenstein Hospital Rehabilitation Center has appointed Dr. Aviva Mimouni-Bloch as its director. A resident of Ramat Hasharon, Mimouni-Bloch, 42, is married and the mother of four. She studied medicine at HU, specializing in pediatrics, and continued with pediatric neurology and child development at Tel Aviv's Dana Children's Hospital. In recent years she worked as a senior neurologist at Schneider Children's Hospital.