A call to the incoming government, whoever may lead it, to take Israeli industry into consideration when formulating basic policy was issued on Monday both by President Reuven Rivlin and Ron Tomer, president of the Manufacturers Association (MAI).
They spoke at a combined event marking the centennial of the MAI and its farewell to Rivlin, who will be completing his tenure on July 9.
Of the many farewell events for Rivlin in recent weeks, this was one of the more emotional, being that so many of the industrialists present had hosted Rivlin at their factories, had traveled abroad with him as members of business delegations on his state visits and had formed close relationships with him.
Tomer attributed much of the business successes achieved on state visits to Rivlin.
Shraga Brosh, a former MAI president who had traveled extensively with Rivlin and was with him at his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recalled that when Modi told Rivlin that India and Israel could do so much together in India, Rivlin had retorted: “with India.”
Dan Propper, another former MAI president, said he would like to see a return to the days when the government recognized the importance of Israel’s industry to the economy.
Turkey is not exactly well disposed toward Israel, yet Turkish goods are imported because they are a fraction cheaper than Blue and White products, Tomer said.
Brosh said he had never met an MK who was not aware of the importance of Israeli industry’s contribution to society and the economy. But when it came to voting, they all did as their leader had instructed, he said.
Dr. Mohamad Zahalka, who heads the MAI’s committee for Arab society, cited Rivlin’s Israel Hope flagship project, which calls for the uniting of what Rivlin terms the four tribes in the nation’s demographic mosaic. The industrialists are a fifth tribe, under whose banner all the other tribes come together, he said.
“We don’t want coexistence, because that means that there are two separate entities,” Zahalka said, speaking as an Arab-Israeli. “We want full partnership so that all of us can have a better quality of life.”
Rivlin referred to the industrialists as the fuel of Israel’s economic, social and security infrastructure. He credited them with opening and improving relations with other countries.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Israeli industry kept working and responded to new challenges, Rivlin said.
During the recent conflict with terrorists in the Gaza Strip, factory plants in the South remained open and active, Tomer said. Israeli industry is “the ‘Iron Dome’ of Israel’s economy” and a bridge between all sectors of society, he said.
“You showed us how to treat every challenge as an opportunity,” Rivlin told the industrialists. “You are creative, determined and capable of making tough decisions – all out of a sense of duty to the state,” despite internal and external pressures. He also praised them for making room for low-tech as well as hi-tech workers.
Agriculture was a key source of income for the pioneers of the first and second aliyot, and even in the early years of the state, Israel was best known for Jaffa Oranges, which were actually used as barter with some countries.
It was not just a matter of growing crops to feed the local population. Agriculture was part of the Zionist dream of the descendants of an ancient people returning to their ancestral land.
Though less important than it used to be, many kibbutzim and moshavim still grow crops and are well known for their dairy products. But most kibbutzim and moshavim now have higher profits from their industrial plants.
Several of those present head companies that created revolutionary products, especially those related to security. But few of them realized that another revolution is taking place.
Jerusalem-based textile engineer Jeff Gabbay is the president and CEO of Argaman Technologies, which has created self-sterilizing textiles that kill bacteria. Argaman’s technology has piqued the interest of Germany and the US.
The use of his company’s technology could considerably reduce infections transmitted to patients in hospitals, with the result that there would be fewer hospital fatalities, Gabbay said.