"Bloomberg" reports that Eugene Kandel, until recently head of the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister's Office, will head a foundation founded by Jewish billionaire Paul Singer to combat initiatives aimed at boycotting Israel.
Singer, who manages the Elliot Management hedge fund, has already spent $20 million in recent years on Start-Up National Central as part of his efforts to brand Israel as the startup nation. He also backed the 2009 publication of "Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle," a bestseller by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, which argued that Israel itself is like a startup, having been created and settled by a band of risk-takers (immigrants), while the IDF instilled values of teamwork and sacrifice.
The book was translated into 30 languages, and became a success story. "After the publication of the book, I heard about heads of state and managers from all over the world visiting Israel to see the startup nation and how they can invest in it. It looks to me like this is a good opportunity for those countries and companies to solve their problems, while at the same time contributing to the Israeli economy," Singer said.
Kandel told Bloomberg that Israel is already attracting technology giants like Intel and Google, while dozens of Israeli companies are listed on Nasdaq, and hundreds of high-tech companies have been sold over the past 20 years. In a Bloomberg interview, Kandel said, "The idea is to look at this system from an overall perspective, and understand which holes have to be filled, and how to strengthen it."
"It can certainly be argued that the right response to isolation and de-legitimization is integration and investments," says Senor, adding that the goal is to attract more investments to Israel.
The goal of Start-Up Nation Central is to function like a Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the high-tech industry in Israel, and to attract investors. Singer is not the only one; other wealthy Jews, such as Haim Saban and Sheldon Adelson are funding similar initiatives for combating the boycott against Israel being promoted by the BDS movement.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 6, 2015
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