The Lounge with Michal Galanti: December 23, 2019

President of the Supreme Court Justice Esther Hayut attended an international conference held at the Academic Center for Law and Science in Hod Hasharon.

Israel’s Chief Justice Esther Hayut (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Israel’s Chief Justice Esther Hayut
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
‘Fauda’ is back
Last Friday, Ran Guron, CEO of Yes, Pelephone and Bezeq International, hosted the launching of the third season of Fauda, Israel’s most successful series. Over 1,000 people attended the screening of the first episode of the show’s newest season, starring actor Lior Raz.
Investment in Education
The Friends of the Weizmann Institute of Science, chaired by Shimshon Harel, chairman of America Israel, hosted an event at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv that was organized by the CEO of the Friends Association Yael Goren-Wegman, and sponsored by Credit Suisse.  Prof. Daniel Zajfman, who recently completed his post as president of the Institute, took advantage of this opportunity to say goodbye to its members, and also participated in a panel entitled “Investment in Education in Israel comes in Second to Last Place.” There to wish good luck to Zajfman and incoming president Prof. Alon Chen were: Prof. Michael Sela and his wife Sara; Yehuda Bronitsky; Marius Nacht; and Amnon Shashua. 
PepsiCo & SodaStream
A year after it was acquired by PepsiCo, SodaStream held a festive year-end party for its employees last Thursday. Over 3,000 employees and their spouses came to the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, where they enjoyed performances by Omer Adam and comedy trio Mah Kashur. In a video greeting that was broadcast at the event, Ramon Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo, personally thanked all the employees.
Eyal Shohat, CEO of SodaStream, noted at the opening of the event that the company is finishing up its best year ever, with record annual sales. Joining Shohat on the stage were Chief People Officer Galit Zucker, and COO Kfir Suisa, who surprised everyone by distributing a laptop to every employee as a gift for them and their families.
Children’s rights
President of the Supreme Court Justice Esther Hayut attended an international conference held at the Academic Center for Law and Science in Hod Hasharon, marking the 30th anniversary of Israel’s signing of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.  Hayut, who delivered the keynote address at the conference, discussed the importance of having children participate in legal proceedings concerning their rights.
BIRD Foundation
The BIRD Foundation, the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation, held an event at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation on Wednesday evening, which was attended by over 150 guests. During the evening, the BIRD Foundation boasted that it has invested in 1,000 projects since its founding, and wished good luck to Dr. Phil Singerman, the outgoing co-chair of the foundation’s board of directors. During the event, CEOs of various Israeli companies spoke about their successful collaborations with the BIRD Foundation, highlighting its contribution to their companies’ growth.
Attending the event were: Jonathan Shrier, deputy chief of Mission for the US Embassy in Jerusalem; Eitan Yudilevich, executive director, BIRD Foundation; Dr. Ami Appelbaum, chief scientist and the chairman of the Board of Israel Innovation Authority; Dr. Jonathan Margolis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Space, and Health in the US Department of State; Limor Nakar-Vincent, Deputy Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation; and Orna Berry, who was the first woman to serve as Israel Chief Scientist.
Translated by Hannah Hochner.