November 15, 2002 Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
Federation Leaders to Tackle Crisis In Israel, Population Data by RACHEL POMERANCE •-
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NEW YORK (JTA)--When the annual conference of the North American federation system convenes next week in Philadelphia, delegates will be grappling with two issues preoccupying much of the organized Jewish community--Israel and Jewish identity. The General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities, Nov. 20-22, will unveil the results of the National Jewish Population Survey 2001-02 that focus on Jewish identity and affiliation. The issues, and the underlying focus on funds needed to address them, illustrate the tensions inherent in a system that historically has been committed to meeting Jewish needs both at home and abroad. And several issues of UJC governance are likely to stir debate, including: • UJC's relationship with Birthright Israel, the free trip to Israel for young adults. UJC will discuss a proposal to pay its overdue portion supporting the program and set new guidelines for future commitment. • A resolution ousting federations that don't pay their designated dues to the UJC system. This year's G.A. trumpets the theme: "Justice, Justice you must pursue" with an opening plenary on the "traditional Jewish pursuit of justice," featuring Israeli Supreme Court Justice Dorit Bemisch. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was scheduled to appear hi person, will not be there, according to UJC officials, but may now be speaking via satellite during a plenary session on Israel. The latest NJPS results and anti-Semitism around the globe dominate the remaining plenary sessions. Some 4,000 people are registered for the conference, and the UJC expects about 4,500 to cram the halls of the convention site, the Philadelphia Marriott. At the latter number, the G.A. would match its height of the year before last-its first sellout crowd. Among the approximately 100 sessions and workshops are agenda items ranging from fund-raising strategy and Israel advocacy on campus to running for public office and the plight of Ethiopian Israelis. But some of the thornier issues will be addressed at meetings of the UJC's Board of Trustees and the Delegate Assembly, which is a larger body representing federations. Beyond the issues of governance, delegates to the G.A. will grapple with a host of pressing topics and what they mean for the federation system, its policies and funding priorities.
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Despite Unrest, Israel Still Popular with Overseas Technology Investors by BUZZY GORDON — — — SANTA CLARA, CA (JTA)--In the "good old days"-just two years ago~venture capital conferences were commonplace occurrences. Such conferences were held nearly every month in Silicon Valley in California or Silicon Alley in New York City—and four to six times a year in Israel. Then came the Nasdaq stock market crash in the fall of 2000, and the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada in September of the same year. In Israel, these prolonged parallel crises became known as the "Nasdaq-Nablus effect," and not even the best technology companies in Silicon Wadi, as Israel's technology belt is called, were spared the devastating effects. The market value of Israel's most vaunted publicly traded companies, from Check Point to Comverse to Commtouch, plunged along with the share prices of their American counterparts. Israeli high-tech business leaders have been cutting back heavily on their globetrotting networking. Thus, the scheduling of Capital Summit: The Forum on Technology Fundraising, organized by Garage Technology Ventures in Silicon Valley at the end of last month, was, in the vernacular of many of the speakers, an attempt at B2N~back to normal. "We're hi a funk," admits Garage, or GTV, CEO Guy Kawasaki, who moderated many of the panel discussions over the course of the two-day conference. At the same time, attendance was a respectable 400 registered participants, mostly entrepreneurs, in an audience that was refreshingly multi-ethnic, comprising large numbers of Asians particularly Indians and Israelis, groups that have left indelible impressions on the Silicon Valley landscape. Indeed, GTV itself is a true reflection of its larger environment: the top executives of the company formerly called Garage.com are of Japanese-American, Israeli and Sikh origin, together with a few faces that typify traditional corporate America. One of GTVs Israeli imports is General Manager Gideon Marks, who organized a conference panel on international capital. One somewhat surprising conclusion that emerged from that panel is that Israel remains popular among U.S. and global venture capital funds, in spite of violence that unceasingly plagues the region. "I am bullish on Israel," declared Lip-Bu Tan,
chairman of Walden International, one of the world's most prominent venture capital firms, which maintains a permanent office in Herzliya. Similar sentiments were echoed by Tim Wilson of Partech International, and Bruce Crocker, who is the Silicon Valley representative of Israel's largest venture capital fund, Pitango (formerly Polaris), which has invested in local companies that have expanded to the North American market. "Israel, with its tight network formed in the military, is still quite entrepreneurial, and we continue to invest-although now we are seeing more repeat entrepreneurs than before," Crocker notes. Crocker is one of a number of California representatives of leading Israeli venture capital fundsVertex, Gemini, Genesis and Apax-while U.S. corporation Applied Materials, a major player in the semiconductor industry, has established its own venture capital fund with a representative in Jerusalem. In fact, another conference panel, "The Company Line: Corporate Investors," featured mostly multinational entities that have long been and still remain active in Israel-based research and development, including Cisco Systems, Siemens Venture Capital, Intel Capital and Applied Materials Ventures. "Israel has always been at a political disadvantage, but it is a technology superpower that is used to operating under adverse conditions," explains Marks. "In fact," he recalls, "when it was business as usual in Israel during the Gulf War, Silicon Valley was shut down because of the earthquake." The latest figures from Israel bear out the experts' assessments. An Israel Venture Capital survey shows that 92 private Israeli companies raised a total of $266 million in the third quarter of this year from local and foreign investors. Moreover, more than half of this sum, $148 million, was raised from entities that were not Israeli venture capital funds. Most importantly, the $1.2 billion invested in Israeli high tech companies to date in 2002 is higher than the amount invested in 1999. Software and the life sciences—biotechnology and medical devices—have become the most attractive- sectors for investment, displacing the Internet. Another promising development was the announcement of a brand-new U. S. fund that will invest exclusively in Israel: Illinois-based Israel America Discovery Fund.
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