Stanley Gold, president and CEO of Disney-founded Shamrock Holdings, joined Proctor and Gamble Israel CEO Sophie Blum at a "Globes" Israel Business Conference panel, where they spoke about the dangers and potential facing the younger generation of Jews.
At the panel on Sunday, Gold warned that Israel must avoid becoming a country where 20% of the population doesn't work. Gold also spoke about the polarization between Jews in Israel and those overseas. He said the only way to overcome the division between the two is "through direct contact, through meetings - by bringing Jewish youth on visits to Israel. That is what we are doing."
P&G's Sophie Blum, who was the moderator of the panel, said that Israel's expertise in innovation can be used for this cause as well. She claimed that Israel, which created so many new ideas over the years, has to learn how to use these abilities for social change.
Journalist Saul Singer, co-author of Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, explained that the factors that caused Israel to be so innovative are the same factors that will lead it to exit relatively quickly from the crisis. According to Singer, innovation is developed in the army, and not just in technology units. It is those skills that led Google CEO Eric Schmidt to say he prefers a 25-year old Israeli who completed his army service and university studies, because of the experience garnered, over similarly aged colleagues from other countries.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 14, 2009
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