New guy at Teva

January 3, 2012 - 9:28 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, health, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness 

The new guy

There’s another fairly well-known American running around town, and he’s making aliyah for the sake of his job, unlike long-time Israel Museum director James Snyder but similar to Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer. Interestingly, Jeremy Levin, the new CEO of Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva, is also from South Africa — Fischer is from Zambia, part of South Central Africa — and is also an American citizen, although he has also lived in Zimbabwe, England, Switzerland and Israel.

And, like Fischer, Levin also speaks Hebrew, not however, as well as Fischer; not yet, that is.

What Teva is known for...

Like others in his position — several Maccabi Tel Aviv and Haifa basketball players (the teams require a certain number of Israeli citizens on the court during a game, so they recruited Jewish Americans), in addition to central bank governor Fischer — the CEO of Teva has to be Israeli, in addition to fairly knowledgeable about pharmaceuticals, which Levin is, as a former executive at Bristol Myers Squibb, and several other drug companies.

Of course, it’s a fairly major deal to become the chief executive of Teva, which has become one of the world’s largest drugmakers. But nice to know they also require their chief to be a local.

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Stan Fischer contemplates the IMF

May 31, 2011 - 10:40 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Business, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, News 

With the chief IMF (International Monetary Fund) position open following the resignation of former managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn after he was accused of attempting to rape a New York City hotel maid, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley — known as Stan to his buddies — Fischer is considering the job, if he wins the IMF election in mid-June.

The news has been circulating in the Israeli papers, but he said it himself at a Tuesday morning address at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, while addressing the 41st Board of Governors meeting.

“All of the press has been very nice to read compared to what is usually in the Israeli press, but, when I was job hunting at MIT, the professors there taught: ‘Don’t accept a nomination you haven’t been offered yet,’” he said, which occasioned a round of laughter in the packed hall.

He added that it’s still early stages, and not all the nominations are in, and, he “really loves this job [as governor of the Bank of Israel].”

He’s certainly well-liked, and has succeeded in helping Israel weather the worldwide recession well “because it was in good shape beforehand,” he told BGU.

Fischer came into his job in 2005, after serving as chief economist of the World Bank, becoming an Israeli citizen for the job, which was a prerequisite, and learning Hebrew, which was definitely helpful. He’s currently in the second year of his second five-year term as governor, and according to the UK Jewish Chronicle, is under pressure from his wife Rhoda to spend more time with his children and grandchildren, all of whom live in the U.S. Not gonna happen if he gets and takes the IMF job.

Good luck to you, Stan.

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Will Israel beget weekend warriors?

March 5, 2011 - 7:58 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics, Religion 

Will this become the standard scene for Sunday's in Israel?

One of the hardest aspects of living in Israel at the beginning for immigrants from the West is losing the concept of weekends.

The week is centered around Shabbat – a frenzy of activity through Friday afternoon, 25-30 hours of leisure, and then Sunday morning, when you’re just beginning to feel relaxed, it’s back to the start of the work week.

There have been legislative attempts over the last decade to turn Sunday’s into a day of leisure, without much success, but that hasn’t stopped Vice Premier Silvan Shalom from picking up the two-day weekend mantle once again.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Shalom has been discussing the issue with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer and Histadrut labor federation chief Ofer Eini, as well as representatives of haredi parties.

According to the proposal, Saturdays and Sundays would be designated as days of rest. Work hours would be slightly extended during the week and on Fridays to make up for lost work time.

Backers of the idea are convinced that having a two-day weekend would help the Israeli economy, give families more leisure time together, and make Israeli society less stressful.

According the Post, two-day weekends would especially help Shabbat-observers, who currently do not have a full day that they can travel without missing work or school. Opponents are worried that the measure would cause severe damage to the economy.

“This would cause a revolution in Israel,” Shalom said in a statement released Thursday. “This would make our country more normal, give people more leisure and allow them to return to the work week on Monday a lot more rested.”

In addition to Shalom’s efforts, the two-day weekend warriors have launched an online petition drive has begun and two Facebook groups have been formed.

I’m undecided on the issue, after having somewhat gotten used to the Friday-Saturday weekend, even though Friday is anything but leisure. On the other hand, the idea of spending Sunday outdoors, working in the yard, playing sports or heading to the shopping complexes, isn’t too shabby at all. How do you say ‘Sunday brunch’ in Hebrew?

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The GA Comes to Town

November 16, 2008 - 11:54 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General 

The “Feds” are in town this week, and they’re holding a conference. Not the FBI, of course, but the Jewish Federation folk, meeting at the  United Jewish Community General Assembly, being held in Jerusalem this week. A combination tour/ networking/ policy-setting convocation, the GA is the premier annual event for the organized Jewish community in the U.S., with every Israeli politician worth his or her salt speaking there about their vision of the future, hoping to impress visitors, Israelis (and themselves) with ideas, thoughts and plans they would implement in Israel, if only given the chance.

For Israelis – especially olim from the U.S. – the GA means a chance to hook up with folks from the old country, a little more of a wait at local restaurants, and a chance to test the English language skills of potential Prime and other ministers in gaposter1116.jpgfuture governments, since they all speak before the GA. The program consists of sessions and discussions on issues important to the country and the Jewish world, with experts sorting out security, social, and economic issues. And, of course, there are the cultural events, such as Israeli dance performances, an Israeli food fair, etc. I’ve never been to a GA myself, but the program looks enough like those sponsored by the local Jewish federations that I used to attend back in the States.

The obvious question comes to mind here. GA: Good thing or no big deal? I say, good thing. For our North American guests, the GA is a great way to get an inside view on what is really going on in Israeli society, if you attend all the sessions and listen to all the speeches. In my travels back to the U.S., I find that the large majority of American Jews really don’t “get” a lot of the issues we face here.

As Americans, they can’t really be blamed for looking at things from an American perspective, but Israel really is a separate, independent entity with a destiny of its own. And while the solutions for those problems that appear valid from “over there” sometimes are, they often aren’t – and unless you get a chance to walk a mile (or a kilometer!) in Israel’s shoes, you might not realize that. Not that a week in Israel will necessarily bring that perspective to GA visitors – but if they make sure to attend the session with Bank of Israel Chairman Stanley Fischer, for example, they might just learn something. And all the money they spent on getting to and attending the GA will have been well invested.

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