Getting into and around Jerusalem these days is no fun. The construction work for extending the light railway reminds one journalist of a siege situation. Improved public sector travel services in recent years has not resolved the rush hour congestion. New buildings are considered ugly if not gothic. And mass sell offs of real estate by the Greek Orthodox Church have sent land prices tumbling in some neighbourhoods.

Not all is doom and gloom. The Fattal chain is looking to open its fourth hotel in the holy city. Facebook recently held on of its first international events on behalf of small businesses in the capital. And in three months time, Jerusalem will be graced by the presence of Prince William from the British royal family.

Jerusalem continues to attract key high-tech investments. Mobileye, sold to Intel for US$15 billion, is located to the north of the city. OrCam, “which has developed a visual aid for the blind and has completed a funding round that values the company at $1 billion”, was created in Jerusalem. The expected opening of the American and probably other embassies in Jerusalem is likely to promote a spike in housing prices and also a need for additional support services.

The next few years look like to be a messy yet exciting growth path for Jerusalem’s economy. This will not just be featured in traditional sectors like tourism. Even a distillery is planned to open in the south of the city – the first round of funding is near complete.

In the meantime, the local populace and visitors will just have to put up with those awful traffic jams.

Every couple of months or so, I give a lecture in Jerusalem on the theme of “time management”. It is usually held at the MATI innovation centre in south of the city, directed primarily towards new immigrants to the country looking to set up an enterprise.

We are talking about a highly motivated section of the community. They seek to make that extra difference to society. Their ideas include the food industry, apps, journalism, retail and beyond. And yet……

And yet, almost invariably, most of the participants arrive late for the start of the talk. I cannot understand it. Here I am, an experienced coach and mentor, looking to impart free advice for their new start, and they miss the most important part of a talk – the beginning.

The question is why.

When I ask the guilty parties, the reply is frequently limited to a shoulder shrug. Neither very helpful nor inspiring. Blame the heat of the Mediterranean climate is what I am told to accept, which I reject on the spot.

During the talk, I look for a volunteer. I tell them to consider one task that they have put off carrying out for some time, even though they know it is important. I then engage them in a question and answer session for 60 seconds or so.

I ask them to consider what would happen if they were to carry out the assignment. When they respond, I ask the same the same question. The next response draws the same question, and so it continues.

The scenario comes to an end, almost invariably, when the person mentions that as a result of everything, they can make a sale and so earn extra income. It is almost as if they have been programmed to believe that making money is an evil – an abomination, which they should be very wary of.

Somewhat immodestly, I then link this thought process back to the reason why people are late for my seminar. Consider: If they were to turn up on time, they might learn something. Implementing that advice could result in additional revenues. Ouch!

Why are people so afraid of extra commercial value?

 

When it comes to SMEs – small medium sized enterprises – around the globe, two themes repeat themselves. First, they comprise over 90% of all commercial activity. Second, all governments claim to support them, while the civil servant often takes a different attitude.

And in Israel?

If you are looking for a miracle from the Holy Land, I am sorry to disappoint you. My experience as a business mentor and coach in the Jerusalem area throws up story and story, a veritable reservoir of material, as to how officials insist on being small minded when it comes to “helping” SMEs.

Just look at these instances faced by clients and associates just recently.

  1. An owner of a launderette has just opened a second outlet in North Jerusalem. He excitedly posted a notice on his glass door, announcing the premise was open for business. A few days later, two officials from City Hall turned up unexpectedly and declared that the A4 piece of paper was a “sign”. That requires a full license, which he did not have. He was duly fined about 1,100 nis – say US$300. By the way, if the notice had been placed on the outside of the door, the sum would have been around 1,500 nis!
  2. My client was busy with some administrative tasks in his Jerusalem premise, when in walked two officials from the income tax authority. They found that he did not keep a diary of all appointments, apparently a foul crime. He had also not managed to receipt two cheques from the previous day. Their value was around 4,000 nis. His total fine was close to 5,000 nis for his heinous crimes against humanity, about half his take home pay per month.
  3. My office is in an area, known for a chronic shortage of parking. Last week, I could not find one spare spot for my vehicle. After all, due to new construction, lorries were parked in some of the spots. And road works ensured that another 30 places had been dug up. With pressing appointments waiting for me, I parked illegally. And you have guessed the next line – one 500 nis parking fine was waiting for me several hours later.
  4. I am furious on behalf of one of my clients. Due to a technical issue, the income tax authorities demanded additional paperwork. This held up vital procedures at the bank. The pieces of paper were rapidly delivered. However, a glitch meant that the bank could only see on the computers that they were not allowed to process their work. Despite protests over weeks, the tax officials could not fix the problem. My client was asked to pay a large fine – thousands of shekels – and suddenly everything was fixed!

I could go on. It is assumed that in some of the instances, the officials are paid some for of bonus or success fee for their efforts. And you are reading this and shouting out “appeal, appeal”, I have to ask: “Have you got the time and effort”? In one case, the person involved was explained the process and cautioned that it could end up with a stiffer fine.

The good news is that……………the government believes in supporting SMEs………assumedly via the extra taxes that collect through situations as described here.

 

About three weeks ago, I wrote about the strong and deepening trade connections between the UK and Israel. Since then, tearing up 70 years of protocol, it has been announced that Prince William will make a formal visit to Israel in June. To be blunt, royal travels are almost invariable followed by an increase in trade between countries.

However, what drew me to these comments was my visit yesterday to a small start up in Tel Aviv, as part of the delegation of the Israel Britain Chamber of Commerce. We were hosted by Eitan Attir, CEO, and Gal Levin, business development, at the Milk and Honey Distillery.

Some background is required. The distillery was created on the whim of some entrepreneurial spirit – pun intended – back in 2012. The idea was to make Scottish whisky in the Holy Land. Yes, the origin of the word whisky is the “water of life”, possibly associated with Medieval monks creating a passionate drink.

As Eitan carefully explained his passion, it was clear how his start up is linked to Britain, and far beyond the basic concept. For example:

  • They contracted Dr. Jim Swann, who before his untimely death last year, was a pioneer in setting up distilleries in hot climates. His knowledge has proved to be invaluable.
  • Second hand equipment was purchased from Scotland.
  • Malted barley is imported from Yorkshire.
  • Of the four main export markets to be targeted later this year, UK is on the list.

For the IBCC, the event was labelled as a power networking breakfast. Certainly, sampling tastings so early in the day did take some extra effort from the participants.

As for the distillery, last year, Milk and Honey became the first Israeli distillery to release a 3 year old whisky. The 300 or so bottles, or what is left of them, are apparently already available on the sites of ‘hard to find’ whiskies. It is currently expanding its floor space by a further 20%. This will allow it to produce to around one million bottles a year, placing it alongside some of the smaller Scottish producers.

Israeli start-ups raised US$500 million in February 2018. There are apparently ten overseas stock exchanges looking to possess that Tel Aviv establishment. Intel is considering a US$5 billion expansion plan in the Holy Land.

Yup, overseas investors are still flocking to Tel Aviv and to Jerusalem in order to discover what goodies are available, even when (or because of?) there are uncertainties caused by Trump and Brexit.

To make my point, earlier today, I watched a fascinating 30 minute documentary highlighting the strengths of Israeli innovation. Introduced by Jonny Caplan of the Tech-talk show, the script introduced several companies that were dominating new industries overseas, despite having emerged from the backwaters of the Middle East.

China has been a country looking to muscle in on the ‘start up nation’. Although the IVC Research Center feels that the ‘day of the dragon’ has yet to happen, there has clearly already been an impact to date. Jack Ma of Alibaba is due in Israel in May.  About 12% of all overseas capital raised has come from China for the years 2015 to 2017. Times are changing.

What follows is a full copy of the IVC report:

In recent years there has been a lot of buzz about Chinese investment in Israel’s high-tech sector. Not a day goes by without reports in the Israeli media about economic cooperation between Israel and China. All the associated hype gives the impression of China being a major factor in Israel’s high-tech sector. IVC’s data suggests otherwise: the world’s most populous country and second largest economy in fact remains a relatively minor player, with its focus almost exclusively on strategic investments. One Israeli insider with years of experience with the Chinese dubbed their strategy as “drain the brain.” Put simply, Chinese companies invest in innovative Israeli technology that they can utilize for their own specific needs.

The most recent story to receive banner headlines is a planned visit of Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma to Israel in May. His company recently finalized a relatively small deal to acquire Visualead, a QR codes startup and announced plans to set up an office in Tel Aviv as part of a $15 billion global R&D initiative. The Chinese retail giant has also invested in several other Israeli startups in the past two years that focus on strategic technologies for Alibaba. Two years ago, Alibaba also invested in Israeli VC JVP’s $160 million seventh fund. No exact amount was given at the time, but it was thought to be around $20 million.

Alibaba is typical of Chinese investors who are primarily interested in Israeli innovation, while the local high-tech sector views China as a huge potential and largely untapped market. An apparent win-win situation for both sides, the data paints a very different picture. In recent years China has become a more significant player in Israel’s technology sector, though IVC data shows that its role is still relatively minor. Chinese direct investments and M&A and buyout activity accounts for at most 5% of the total, and while the percentages and dollar amounts have risen from 2013 levels they have changed little over the past few years (see graph). While for Israeli high-tech companies, few have successfully cracked the Chinese market.

According to IVC’s data, the actual number of Chinese entities that invested in Israeli high-tech companies has gone from 18 in 2013 to 30 in 2015 and to 34 last year, and they invested on average annually in about 40 startups. The dollar amount invested in those startups ranged around $500 to $600 million in 2015–2017. This represented on average around 12% of the total capital raised by all Israeli startups in the corresponding years (see graph)

Startups generally raise from several investors during a round. They also do not usually detail dollar amounts invested by each participant in a round. In fact, the lion’s share of the investments was by Chinese venture capital funds or high-tech companies and were in startups described as having strategic importance. Even if the Chinese accounted for 50% of the funding in those startups (which is highly unlikely), that would still only translate into 6% of the total.

There have been relatively few financial investments by Chinese entities. Chinese participation as investors in Israeli venture capital funds peaked in 2014 and has dropped considerably since then both in actual numbers of investors and actual dollar amounts. The rule of thumb is investors in venture capital funds usually take a maximum position of around 10%. In this category as well, Chinese investment clearly played a relatively minor role.

In the fields of M&A and buyouts of Israeli tech companies, Chinese firms have taken a backseat position to American, European, and even Japanese firms. The only exception was in 2016 when China’s Giant Interactive paid $4.4 billion for Israeli gaming company Playtika, which accounted for 44% of all M&A activity that year. The year before and after, Chinese interest waned sharply, accounting for 8% and 1.1%, respectively. Even if the huge Mobileye-Intel deal is excluded from 2017’s record tally, the percentage would only rise to 3.5% and three M&A deals done by Chinese.

Few would dispute the fact that the Chinese market represents a huge potential for Israel’s high-tech sector and specifically startup companies. However, this market is extremely complex for Israeli high-tech companies, far more familiar with the US and European markets, where they face far fewer cultural and language barriers and more familiar business practices.

The $64,000 question is whether this will change. In November, ten Israeli startups were selected to take part in the first-of-its-kind accelerator program in Beijing. They were chosen from 100 startups that applied, based on their chances of cracking the Chinese market. The accelerator was established by Israel’s Economy Ministry and ShengJing Group, one of China’s largest management consulting and private equity firms, and DayDayUp, a group that focuses on connecting international and Chinese investors. This represents a small but significant change that could start a trend, which could have long-term impact on the China Israel high-tech equation.

It is one of those subjects that keeps coming up with my clients. How can they lock on and retain their better employees, even when pay rises are not available?

One obvious way is to call somebody in for a chat. Talk about all the good things they are doing. Chuff them up. However, this perfectly obvious solution, is not so perfect in itself. According to James Adonis, an expert on employee engagement:

Research shows the majority of performance appraisals have zero impact on performance. One reason for this is that appraisals are often laborious. When both employees and managers dread them, they can’t ever be effective.

Adonis goes on to point out that few receive a 100% score card. What is important to note is whether the final score is handed to somebody, who feels that they will not achieve the top result, or to a colleague who understands that have outperformed most others. If the latter, that person will probably continue to do well.

Adonis offers some advice for handling employees in either category. A common theme between the two groups is the need for a senior manager or owner to ask questions. They should show that they are genuinely engaged and that they care. They will also be able to find out work makes a person ‘tick’, thus allowing them to manage the expectations of colleagues.

Personally, I find that there is a further issue that is all too often forgotten by employers. They are required to find a method that allows their employee to feel that they are respected; that they are valued. In the past few weeks, I have seen two key workers in the Jerusalem area just up and leave, the energy and innovation previously sucked out of them by superiors seeking more while withholding positive feedback.

And had they been handed an extra few percent as a bonus or a monthly salary increase, it would not have done it for them. They had been shoved around for too long. In other words, they simply could no longer bear the thought of coming into work every day. How depressing!

I suspect that many readers may find the last two paragraphs a touch obvious. So, here is the challenging question: Why is it that we hear about such stories all the time? And, if we are really honest with ourselves, how often have we also been guilty of such crimes and lack of consideration?

To be blunt, if you invest in a few minutes of showing your appreciation, it may save a fortune compared to the cost of replacing an employee.

 

Nearly a week has passed since Israel’s police recommended pressing charges against Benyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, the country’s longest standing Prime Minister. This is not the first time that he has faced charges. And as ever, he denies them all, firmly.

Many political analysts in Israel have long felt that Bibi looks at most issues in terms of how he will be perceived by his supporters at the polls. To understand the full story, we have to remember Bibi’s core strength as a politician.

A former soldier in a crack unit, Bibi is a master communicator. He was a brilliant success at the UN in the early 1990s. On at least two occasions, he has snatched victory at the polls, when he was facing defeat. He is fully bilingual in English and in Hebrew. When briefly out of politics, he was a sought-after speaker in the private sector.

And this is the irony. Most of the police investigations into Bibi involve the media in some form or another. For example, in Case 1000, Bibi is suspected of helping Arnon Milchan to secure his commercial role in the world of Israeli TV. In Case 2000, Bibi is accused of seeking a deal with the owner of Yediot Ahronot, the country’s leading newspaper, and at the expense of its major rival.

Yesterday, Sunday, the police finally announced it was formally pushing ahead with Case 4000. Here, the Prime Minister has yet to be summonsed for an interview. However, following an investigation by the Stock Exchange, seven close associates of Bibi and / or his friend, Shaul Elovitch are in custody.

So what? Through holding companies, Elovitch controls Bezeq, which has a near monopoly of regular phone lines throughout the country. While Bibi served as Minister of Communications, there were clear attempts by the ministry to ensure that Bezeq received financial and commercial benefits to the tune of hundreds of millions of shekels, although not all succeeded. Further, there are claims that Walla, an online news agency owned by Elovitch, deliberately provided favourable coverage of the Prime Minister and his family.

As Bibi sits in his office in Jerusalem, one can understand why he feels that there is a media witch hunt against him – and his wife, who has also faced charges as to how she runs their official home. Bibi has never been prosecuted. And his standing in the polls is little damaged, for now.

For all that, there is another point here, which I will describe in three parts. First, I did not forget Case 3000, where the police believe that many close confidants of Bibi secured a large military submarine contract unwanted by the navy. Second, there are numerous other politicians and civil servants under investigation, such as Ari Harrow ,Danny Dannon and Dudu Bitan, who are or who have been part of the Prime Minister’s closest circles.

And finally, let me revert back to Case 1000, where the suspicion is that the Prime Minister and his wife received gifts to the value of one million shekels. As asked by the Minister of Education, Naftali Bennett, why would a politician need such a benefit?

At the very least, it is ethically unacceptable.

 

 

According to the Bank of Israel, the outlook for the economy in the Holy Land remains very positive.

GDP is expected to grow by 3.4 percent in 2018 and by 3.5 percent in 2019. Inflation is expected to converge to within the target range during 2018 and reach 1.1 percent at the end of the year. The Bank of Israel interest rate is expected to remain at its current level until the third quarter of 2018, and rise in the fourth quarter.

While much is told about the impact of the start up economy for the past three decades, I would like to focus on one area where for years Israel has not featured so well, but times are a changing. And that is the area of international trade.

Historically, Israel has run a balance of payments deficit. In recent times, the figures have become more even. In 2017, for the first time, Israel’s exports topped the US$100 billion, a 5% growth in dollar terms over twelve months.

One continuous part of this change around has been the trading relationship with the UK. Combining both exports and imports, this was valued at almost US$8 billion in 2016.

Recent news explains why there is such a strong commercial bond, which is not just based around the dramas of the Brexit debate.

First, as was mentioned this week in the House of Commons:

The British Government helped to establish the UK-Israel Tech Hub, a non-profit organisation based in Tel Aviv and London, to help British companies looking for cutting-edge innovation or Israeli start-ups seeking to grow through the UK. Over the last 5 years the Tech Hub has generated deals worth £62 million.

Second, as reported by Reuters, the British embassy in Tel Aviv “launched a programme designed to help incorporate Israeli digital health technology into the UK and its National Health Service”.  Three times a year, IBM’s Alpha Zone accelerator program and DigitalHealth, London will seek to seek out and mentor those Israeli companies, which can best service the HNS.

Barry Grossman, the British embassy’s Director of International Trade in Tel Aviv recently observed that “in the year following the referendum, Israeli financial institutions invested over £150 million in the UK”.  Evidently, this bilateral partnership has much more to offer both countries.

More than a few years back, when I was involved in student politics, us sophisticated hacks had a phrase called the ‘the three biggest lies’. The most prominent statement was that ‘the payment is in the post’ – a line that could never be proved and thus ensured a few extra days of financial credit were secured.

Today, as a business coach and mentor, I have come to learn that I am faced by a similar ritual, only this time played out by my clients, typically those who are owners of small or medium sized enterprises. They set themselves tasks – call them homework assignments – but I know that there are never going to be completed.

As of old, there are three tales that frequently repeat themselves. Here’s what I mean.

Lie no’ 1: I am going to create a budget.

Everyone (just about) accepts the need for a budget. Far fewer understand what that means. In one sentence, a budget centralises on one page all the assumptions of both revenues and expenses over a future fixed period of time.

This challenge comes with two requirements: First, the effort forces leaders to ask questions about what they really want to do and to prioritise. Second, they need to verify their numbers.

Some people have these skills, and patience. Many a CEO does not, but refuses to recognise the fact, until it is too late.

Lie no’ 2: I am going to create the content for my website

Similar story here. In a small set up, typically the CEO is the founder. So he or she wants to be the one to describe the operation for the website or Facebook page and in their own way. Fair enough.

This implies that they know what they want to write and also how to write it. It assumes that they have set aside the time to write it. All three conditions apply in parallel. Appreciating this fact – that writing content is a talent that not everyone possesses – is evidently not so easy for people to internalise.

And the result is that as inertia. Actually, it is worse. A poor social media presence often implies lost sales.

Lie no’ 3: I am sure that they – the potential target – will buy once they have heard my pitch

Like every other part of a business, selling is an art form. It can be learnt. However, it is not that simple. Many a CEO seem to feel that their targets will just fall into place. Sales will happen, growing slowly but surely.

I find it staggering to consider the number of clients who come to my office in Jerusalem, explaining that for them, a sales meeting is a chance to talk and show off. It is the very opposite. It is session where they should spend most of their time listening.

To rephrase: Before you educate somebody about your own game – i.e. try to sell them  something – you yourself are required to undergo a learning process conducted by the potential customer.

So, why the lies? Why do people not want to own up to what they do not know?

There is no simple explanation. Partly arrogance. Many of us are taught, incorrectly, that it is wrong to seek help. And another reason is that the business owner is trying to save time and, more importantly, money.

And with most other cases, if you lie, it costs you in the end.

An article in Inc.Com reminds us all of the well-known lesson from the billionaire Warren Buffet. He can buy almost everything, but he cannot buy time. As Buffet explains, you do not have to have a full and crammed diary in order to be successful.

I believe there is a deeper message here. When I talk about time management, as a business coach and mentor, I am faced with a misconnect. On the one hand, there are those people who are busy , but not with what they should be doing. That is procrastination at its best. And then there are those business owners who are fully occupied, working on the tasks they have set themselves, yet still cannot produce results.

I have met all of these characters this week in my office in Jerusalem. Whenever faced with this topic of time management, my approach is consistent. First, I have noticed how many people these days have abandoned the concept of the old-fashioned diary. At best they use an app of sorts on their phone.

Let me be clear, for most of my clients, it is evident that a diary on the phone rarely works out successfully. And even if tasks are included along with appointments, they are almost never time-framed. That is a major mistake. scheduling a phone call or creating  report is the same as having a meeting with yourself!

Second, almost invariably the uncompleted tasks revolve around the issue of money. It is as if the previous generation have educated them that asking for money, billing clients, achieving a positive cash flow are all considered poor qualities in a person.

For example, one of my clients told me that she has always aspired to be a person of modest means. Excellent, I responded. However, she could not explain why this attitude does not allow her to have extra money to spend on hobbies, on children or in the next stage of his business.

Silence! I had hit the raw nerve.

For whatever reason associated with the past, procrastination occurs when we cannot appreciate the full “value” of what we are trying to achieve. Recognise that truth and you will find that the bottom line in your business will start to improve rapidly.

Looe is a quaint small town, located on England’s southern Cornish coastline. Yes, it is pronounced the way you might fear to call it. And yes, while it might seem just a quiet, idyllic spot for tourists, there is a lot of commerce going on in the former smugglers’ coves.

My wife and I are camped down in the village, putting about 2,500 miles between me and my business mentoring clients in Jerusalem and its surrounds. And yet, I just cannot escape the subject of coaching.

For example, we set ourselves up in an airbnb and turned on the TV. Struggling with lousy reception, we hit upon the programme “Dragons’ Den”. Here, budding entrepreneurs pitch their start ups to investors. The anti-hero of this story has a very clever idea for monetizing public sports’ facilities.

However, when questioned about the distribution of profits to date, it became very evident that he was hiding something. It turned out that he had incurred a fine to the tax authorities, which he was seemingly reluctant to disclose.

And that was silly, to say the least. In reality, those investors were his market. And he had deceived them, when all he was required to was tell the truth openly. He had broken that relationship of trust with his market. They rejected him flat, despite his clear talents to build up a new business from scratch.

As I was checking in the newspaper for what to watch next, I hit upon an article about James Timpson. He has 1,925 sites in the UK. He reheels shoes, duplicates keys, prints pictures, and he makes a huge fortune in a depressed market.

What’s his skill? It would seem that he knows where his market is located. First, as he observes, these are not exactly services that will lose out to the internet. As for site placement, favourite choices are next to McDonalds. Failing that, they try to be as close to public toilets as possible. For good measure, the journalist accompanied Timpson to one of his most successful franchises…..a prefab structure in a car park of a large supermarket!

I also glanced at an article about Generation Z. These are people who are so determined to have everything, and immediately, that they actively look for apps that provide delivery services even at 3am in the morning.

This reminded me of a true story a couple of years back, when I was offering some pro bono advice to a friend of my son, both of whom had just finished three years military service in Israel. The friend wanted to set up a sandwich delivery service, at night, in Tel Aviv. I could not understand the concept. Surely, there were not enough people awake at those hours to justify any initial injection of resources?

The 21 year old entrepreneur was quick to explain himself. In my naiveté, I did not know that after taking certain drugs, people need to eat, immediately. In other words, his  business model was based on the growing abuse of young Israelis of their own bodies.

Sad, but clever thinking. It will be interesting to see if he goes on to emulate J Timpson. Meanwhile, Sitting in Looe has been very educational for me.

Israel, the Holy Land, an important spiritual centre for the three monotheistic religions. Israel is also an important location for the secondary meaning of the word ‘spiritual’, and here I am referring to the alcoholic kind.

The bible is littered to references to wine, starting with Noach in Chapter 9 of Genesis. Today, Israel’s wine industry will happily try to compete with the global best at international wine awards. Over the past decade, the Golan Heights winery has consistently achieved great success. And the national industry’s continuus improvement has been noted in the 2017 World Wine Awards of Decanter Magazine.

However, what many people may be surprised to learn is that Israel is now sprouting a whisky industry. Still very much in its infancy, the signs are clearly there.

For example, last night I attended an open house at the Milk and Honey Distillery in Tel Aviv. It marked the official launch of the first whisky to be distilled in Israel. Bottled just over three years ago at 46%, it was recasked and moved back to the distillery during its third year.

Now, I am only a bit of an amateur whisky buff, but I have to admit this product really is a very impressive start. the company was under the initial supervision of the master taster, the late Dr. Jim Swan. I was presented with a whisky with a light brown colour and a sweet citrus smell. The first taste was much stronger than I had expected, but the surprise was quicker replaced by a gentle orangey, fruity flavor. The finish had a hint of chocolate and left you wanting more.

Whisky tasting – 27th July 2017

 

One of the ways that Milk and Honey have funded their start up is selling gin, a known by-product of the industry. This leads me to the north of the Israel, where a Canadian entrepreneur by the name of Zibell has set  up the Golan Heights Distillery.

This outfit did initially release a whisky less than three years old. To be polite, it tasted as young as it was. However, their Holy Land Gin has just been made a Silver Winner in the 2017 International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC). Hopefully, their true whiskies will also reach such standards.

Is there a takeaway from this? First, physically, very much so. I own a bottle of Milk and Honey whisky. What all these innovative Israeli ventures do demonstrate is that there are few barriers to what can be achieved in the Holy Land which is 50% desert.

Founded in May 1948, Israel is celebrating its 69th Independence Day this week. It is a national holiday. And the slide shows abound to reveal how much there is to celebrate.

Let me entertain you with a few stats to illustrate what has changed over the decades.

  • The population has grown ten fold from around 800,000 to 8.6 million, 75% of whom are Jewish
  • Imports and exports were calculated at US252 million and US$29 million in 1949. The equivalent numbers in 2016 were US$65 billion and US$52 billion.
  • GNP has leapt forward by a factor of 46.
  • In 1961, there were about 0.5 million salaried workers. Today, there are about 3.5 million. And for the record, unemployment is at about 4.2%.
  • 12 Israelis have won a Nobel Prize.

Independence Day is always preceded by a day of mourning, Memorial Day, for those who fell in battle or other attacks. And here the numbers make depressing reading. 23,544 have lost their lives in the services. A further 3,117 have been killed by terrorists.

And that is where we must leave the numbers. Because each victim has a story to tell. They are part of a family that has been brutally wounded. And these families together make up the nation.

In a sense, the numbers that describe the growth and improvement are a testament to those no longer with us. It is not just revenge. They represent what can be achieved when a nation focuses on peace.

And that is Israel’s message to its enemies in the region and beyond. The modern state in the Holy Land has not just shown it is here to stay. It shows others how great things can be attained by ordinary citizens whatever their background or religion.

Twice in the past week or so, I have sat down with some clients in the Jerusalem area and they have demanded that as their business coach, I immediately create a new sales strategy for them.

It is one of those challenges that I am often faced with as a coach and mentor. And I am always inclined to encourage the customer to do the hard work and present their own ideas. By the way, these are invariably of a high standard, but have often been held back for all sorts of reasons.

One of my clients had a particularly interesting. He threw at me a battery of ideas, most of which lacked substance. As he began to run out of puff, I pointed him towards a  cartoon in my office with a picture of people engaged in a laborious meeting It reads:

“Why don’t we just do the stuff that is going to be massively successful?”

A simple, comical , yet powerful message. Minutes later, he could not stop blurting out ideas of quality.

Is it that straight forward for everyone? Not always, but sometimes the best concepts are developed when the target is made crystal clear.

Here are two examples of what I mean, both taken from clips I have seen this week on Facebook.

A) In an old people’s home in America, a teacher has almost literally woken up a group of dementia patients, by helping them to dance as they used to. In the clip, they automatically respond to his movements, as if it were yesterday. They “high-five” and cha-cha and boogie all over the floor. A most practical therapy, involving minimal cost and stress, bringing much happiness to all, something which any member of staff could have initiated.

B) A football coach was attending a press conference, when a young kid asked him if his team was built primarily around ‘attitude’ or ‘technique’. The man was about to launch into his answer, when he stopped and praised the kid. He said that after all these years, he had rarely been asked such an astute question. He wondered why others could not ask such important questions.

What these anecdotes add up to is that many of us are surrounded by seemingly complex issues, both in the work place (or elsewhere). We search hard for answers, even seeking out the calm words of others. Ironically, we often actually know what to do, but we are not prepared to let ourselves to see and to recognise the solution. We have put our own stumbling blocks in the way.

Yesterday was the 68th anniversary of Israel’s independence. 8.5million people, of whom 75% are Jewish, are a testament to a seven decade old social experiment in making the desert blossom and under the most testing of geopolitical conditions.

The country has much to be proud about since its establishment in 1948. The ‘start up economy’ of the past 20 years or so is just one example. I can also point out how the diversity of those people who officially opened the annual independence celebrations is a tribute to how Israel tries to integrate all comers. And in the past year alone, aid teams from the Holy Land have been sent to Japan, Ecuador, parts of flooded Britain and even the burnt prairies in Canada.

For all that and more, the country has its enemies. I am not just referring to Hamas, Hizbollah, Iran and many Palestinian groupings. Tom Gross, a veteran analyst of the Middle East, circulated two articles that observe just why much of the “left wing” loves to hate Israel. To quote Joel Braunold:

The utter refusal of the hard left in Britain to accept that anti-Semitism can morph from the traditional eugenics into parts of modern-day anti-Zionist discourse stems from its rejection of Jews as a people.

Just Britain? Only the hard left? And this ideological debate only started up since 1948?

My late grandfather was born in Poland. Well read and educated, I always loved to investigate the wonders of his library. One of the slightly unusual set of books was published by Gollancz in the 1930s and called “The Left Book Club“. Many of the writers went on to become ‘big stars’ in the British Labour movement, such as George Orwell and Prime Minister Attlee.

For some unfathomed reason, I inherited some of the titles. These include “The spirit and structure of German Fascism” (1937) and “The Hitler terror”. While both mention the Jews, and the former title was written shortly after the Nuremberg Laws were passed, neither deals with the subject in depth. According to the authors, Hitler’s key problem was with the proletariat only. Thus and to simplify for reasons of brevity, if the Jews united with the workers, the issues of these religionists would melt away.

Well, not then, and not now. As Braunold went on to discuss, even over the past decade the National Union of Students, a continuous bastion of left wing beliefs, has struggled to simply say; “The Holocaust was the deliberate mass murder of Jews, which we condemn”. So much for unity.

Sadly, my university days are a long way in the past. When campaigning on campuses, we would argue that the students of today will become the political leaders of tomorrow. More importantly, they would carry with them the arguments forged in student bars. We did not realise how accurate our prophecy was to become.

There is nothing wrong in being left of centre. I always thought that whatever a person’s strand of socialism, it directed you to accepting the views and beliefs of others as equal. What appears to have happened is that too many on the left demanded and still demand that this form of justice replaces Judaism, more than any other religion, a viewpoint which allows it to justify why “anti-Semitism can morph from the traditional eugenics into parts of modern-day anti-Zionist discourse.”

68 years on and Israel is still proving that there is another truth.

This is one of those years, when the Jewish festival of Passover and the Christian festival of Easter coincide.

And it is a time for people to whiz off messages to each other over the internet. Most are pretty standard, but occasionally you get one with a difference. And the one seen here is a definite favourite. (Thanks Jeanine).

As a business coach and consultant, I wanted to pass on a thought that I find pertinent at this time of year, especially as we spend a few hours reading the Hagaddah – the book which recounts the exodus from Egypt.

For me, the story telling is all about finding a new meaning every year in words that never tire on me. Yet, in our day-to-day life, we readily become bogged down with turgid phrasing, which just turn off our customers and others.

On the serious side, look at these statements that are so often used when we portray ourselves, but are actually close to irrelevant. We consistently market ourselves and our companies in such a clumsy and nonsensical manner. Why?

And for a laugh, yet in a similar light, consider this clever TV analysis of President Obama. Want to understand him better? It is all about what he does not say. We simply forget to say what is going to win over others in the room, however obvious it may be. Again, why?

Whatever your faith, may you have a great week….and just give a little extra thought to what you are about to say next.

Yesterday was International Women’s Day. The Israeli media was full of stories about how full equality between the sexes is still a long way off in the Holy Land. All this, when in the past 12 months about 10 senior police officers have resigned from the force due to ‘sexual indiscretions’.

That said, I did detect some positive trends. For example, I was particularly interested in a series of articles, featuring women in leading positions of commerce in Israel. And for once, we were able to move beyond Shari Arison, who owns Bank Hapolaim, Ofra Strauss who is considered one of the most influential women globally and Rakefet Russak-Aminoach who runs Bank Leumi.

1) Esti Ackerman runs a family business that has made its fortune importing and distributing alcoholic products in Israel. Now that is often considered (incorrectly) a man’s world, but this lady knows her stats. I was delighted to read how she reported that because of the drop in import duties, whiskey products entering Israel shot up by more than 180% in 2014.

2) Miri Robinu is head of the 10,000 strong workers committee at Bank Leumi. Historically, this is one of the major unions in the country, especially in the finance sector. She was rightly showing off how she has improved conditions for her colleagues, such as over pensions, without having to resort to threats of strikes etc.

3) Alona Barkat is the wife of a successful high-tech entrepreneur. She is also chairperson of Hapoel Beer Sheva Football Club, where the men ‘rule’ the changing rooms . Gradually, she is taking this small time club from the desert to become one of the Israel’s strongest and most consistent soccer teams.

My point is that it is not just that women are making it in Israel, albeit there is a more to be done. What I am saying is that Israel, despite conservative religious attitudes holding back parts of society, is incredibly open.

Empty words? Just look at how the Israeli army now deliberately looks to recruit autistic people for a crack intelligence unit. And what about the fact that the Arab Party List may be about to become the third largest party in the Israeli Parliament? Israeli is an amazingly vibrant country to live in.

It is now official. Israel’s economy is growing at its slowest rate for five years. A 1.5% boost for the second quarter 2014 has been seen as a poor return, when analysts had been predicting a report of around 2.5%.

Compared to much of the OCED, this growth level seems very reasonable. However, the stat barely covers the growth in population. It also includes the boost from the new wealth of off-shore energy resources, implying that other sectors are performing poorly. Israelis are used to benefitting form 4% annually returns. So, is it all doom and gloom?

Well the answer is no. Let me point out three high-tech successes in recent weeks that indicate why the economy is very likely to see better days in 2015.

  • The startup Fitterli, a service that provides an online virtual changing room for shoppers, was announced as the winner of the Intel Business Challenge Europe 2014.
  • ReWalk Robotics RWLK that manufactures motorized wearable robotic exoskeletons which are used to help those who are paralyzed  from the waist down regain mobilityday, saw their shares more than double in days, following an IPO in America.
  • Israeli cyber solutions are seen amongst the leaders in an increasingly dynamic global market.

It cannot be an accident that three of Israel’s universities – Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa – have been placed amongst the world’s top two hundred establishments. This is how Israel builds its future – based on a greater understanding of new cultures and ethics – and this is what these three high tech examples are portraying to the wider  international community.

 

So after much prelaunch hype and speculation, Apple’s new iphone and watch has hit the market. Lots of cool new features for the geeks to swoon over. But where did they all come from?

The bottom line is that outside America, Apple’s largest r&d centre is in Israel, operating in the Holy Land since 2011. In fact from the beginning of 2014, the operations have been ramped up even further with an additional 12,500 sq meters in Herzylia, just past north Tel Aviv. We are probably talking of around 800 employees in total.

The importance of Israel to Apple can be seen in so many different ways. Co-founder, Steve Wozniak, paid a high-profile visit to the country during the midst of the recent war with Gaza. A sales center has been opened up. And Apple CEO, Tim Cook, met up with Prime Minister back in March this year.

As for the latest round of Apple goodies for its global clientele, well the Israeli brain will be right there, on everyone’s mobile and now even sitting on their wrist.  How so? Well Haifa-born Israeli-Arab Johny Srouji is now VP of Hardware Technologies. And it is widely understood that the Ra’anana plant has supplied much communications tech in the watch.

It certainly seems that Israel tech will have a welcome place in the homes and offices of billions around the globe.

There are many sides to Christmas. The retail trade is all about decorating the shops with fake snow and a cuddly Santa, even if you live in sunny California. The politicians in Bethlehem use the occasion to demonize the coldness of Israel, which is ironic as it is the one country in the Middle East where the Christians have grown in number over past decades.

But for all the imagery, does it really snow in the Holy Land in December? Typically, the freezing weather only arrives in mid January. And there are years that the area around Bethlehem, about a 5 minute drive away from south-east Jerusalem, can turn into a picturesque white postcard.

All that was true until December 12th 2013, when Israel was struck by a ferocious snow storm, which lasted for four days. A few flakes were even reported as far away as Cairo! Jerusalem simply shut down. There were some amazing descriptions of women giving birth in ambulances stuck in the snow. The website ‘The Real Jerusalem Streets’ has some glorious photos of how the capital was decorated in white.

From our home, it appeared as if we had been transported in to a magical TV camera shot. As the attached views demonstrate, we were experiencing a true beginning to a ‘White Christmas’.

snow at sunrise_Dec 2013

Snow at Samuel's Tomb

And if just about everything in this region leads back to politics, it was fantastic to see Israel’s coordinated response offered to varying Palestinians towns and cities, cut off without resources. There were even photo shots of the Chief of Staff conversing with Palestinians in the snow.

Today, it is the 25th December. The sun is out. The last few mounds of snow are melting away on the hilltops and on side roads. Is it really too much to hope for that the goodwill brought by the snow will not evaporate, but stick around for a while?

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