Moran Chamsi, managing partner in the secondary fund Amplefields Investments/Mirav Ben Lulu
Every time Moran Chamsi, managing partner of the secondary fund Amplefields Investments, finishes a conversation with his colleagues outside of Israel, he shares with them posts by the Israeli advocacy activist, Yosef Haddad, in order to reflect the current reality to them.
"We invest in mature hi-tech companies connected to Israel. We have colleagues around the world, among them investors who invest with us," he says.
"Since October 7, I feel that I always have to talk to them about the situation, but each time the narrative changes. In the first days and weeks, it was more necessary to explain to them that this is not another 'round', that it is not related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but that it is a completely different story, which happened This is an act of terrorism, just like ISIS and the Nazis."
Since the outbreak of the war, many companies that work regularly with colleagues outside of Israel feel the need to engage in advocacy with their work colleagues and to mediate the complex situation in Israel these days.
After Chamsi made it clear to his colleagues that "no "This is another round," he began to talk about the abductees.
Our goal is to connect them to what is happening here, so that they understand that this is a turning point in Israeli history," he says.
How interested are they?
"Most of them ask about the situation, either out of politeness or out of genuine interest.
Our goal in the business community is to inform them of what is happening, because they are fed by foreign media."
Another thing that is very important for Chamsi to emphasize to his colleagues is the resilience of Israeli society. "I explain that even in a difficult situation, people here do everything to promote the economy, that things are happening here , companies are raising money, setting up funds," he says. "It is important to me that on the one hand they understand the crazy chaos, and on the other hand they know that we are a very strong nation, that the high-tech industry is a strong industry.
It is true that the industry suffered a severe blow at the national level, but this only makes us stronger."
Chamsi, as mentioned, has a custom. "At the end of every conversation, I either share a screen or send a link to one of Yosef Haddad's current posts on LinkedIn.
He conveys the messages perfectly.
His posts are also always translated into English and people know how to connect with them."
Have you also encountered pointed questions from colleagues?
"I have not encountered pointed questions, but I have encountered insinuations along the lines of 'we will be very happy that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will end and there will be peace.'
There are few who still speak to us in the terminology of October 6th, not October 7th.
They say: 'It's better that you get out of Gaza and make peace.'"
What are the colleagues from abroad most interested in?
"They are interested in what it is like to live here now, do we shut ourselves up at home all day or can we lead a continuous lifestyle. The other thing that interests them is from a business point of view, do people go to work, are companies still active, how do they behave when a significant percentage of the workers are in the reserves? By and large, in the war This one I feel much more empathy compared to previous rounds of combat. In Eitan Cliff, for example, the interest was very cold and for the sake of politeness, but today you really feel that there is empathy."
Noa Asher, CEO of NTT Israel/Michal Levy
Trampled humanity
"Since October 7, I actually feel like an Israeli host," says Noa Asher, CEO of NTT Israel - an Israeli innovation center that connects Israeli startups with NTT, a huge Japanese corporation with approximately 330,000 employees worldwide and sales of more than 100 billion dollar a year.
"I feel a very strong need to explain the Israeli position, mainly because we are a global company, which also has a lot of activity in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey.
There is no single opinion and not everyone is pro-Israel.
At first it was to explain what happened on October 7, that this war is not a political matter, but it follows values of humanity that have been trampled.
Every week I sent an email to the company's executives about what was happening in Israel, what the goals were in the ground maneuver.
I explained that it is important for us to return the abductees and security in the envelope.
It was also important for me to explain that the Israeli industry must continue its activity, and we must help it.
I also used the messages of the start-up Nation Central, Israeli tech delivers - NO MATTER WHAT, with the aim of continuing the investments and activities here."
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Noa Asher at the NTT conference in Japan/NTT ISRAEL
At the end of November, Asher flew to Japan, where she participated in a conference of CEOs. "I made a presentation on the situation in Israel, I mainly emphasized the technologies that have been developed to deal with the challenges, I emphasized that the Israeli economy is strong, and at the end of the event I lit a candle and said a prayer for the release of the abductees.
"I also constantly wear the yellow bracelet as a sign of identification for the return of the kidnapped, and I explained to them what it is," she says.
"In Japan, I received very warm responses. They also talked to me about challenges that Japan faced. My boss, for example, talked about Hiroshima. His family came from there, he talked about growth out of a crisis."
What are they most interested in knowing?
"In many cases I am asked: 'What will happen the day after?'. I express my non-diplomatic opinion, what I think should be. We had many discussions about this, how we can manage the Strip afterwards, what Israel intends to achieve, why did we get into this intensity".
Nega Halperin, senior vice president and operations manager of the SciPlay gaming company in Israel/David Garb
"When the war started, it was very important to explain what was happening and how it affects our functioning here, because in the first weeks it was impossible to expect the employees to work full-time, and more than 10% of our employees were recruited," says Nega Halperin, Senior Vice President and the operations manager of the gaming company SciPlay in Israel.
"On that Saturday, the company's American management had already canceled on its own initiative lateral meetings that require a lot of preparation from our local employees, in order to ease the situation and reduce any work possible.
The company was very connected to what was happening in Israel in terms of information, I sent them many links to articles in English that reflect the situation.
There was a feeling of full backing and that they were giving their back."
What was important for them to understand?
"They wanted to deeply understand the situation, where it was going to develop.
Many of the American employees and managers come to Israel very frequently, and there was a real feeling that they were experiencing it together with us.
I did not attend the first management meeting physically, I joined via zoom, and then they made shirts with the company's logo on which I stand with Israel is printed
Members of Sciplay management express support for Israel/Courtesy of Sciplay
In November I flew to the United States, met the members of the board.
I arrived with the diskette of the abductees, I told them how everyone in Israel goes with these disks, that I am going to the rallies for the Shabbat of the abductees.
When I returned from the United States, I decided to buy all the members of the board the disks.
About three weeks ago, when the CEO of the company, Josh Wilson, arrived in Israel, I gave him 15 disks for the members of the board and for the Israelis who relocated on our behalf."
What frequently asked questions do you encounter?
"Many asked about the situation of the citizens of Gaza, trying to understand how much they support or oppose Hamas, how they allowed Hamas to gain so much power and create such infrastructure. It is also very important for them to understand what is happening with our reservists. We made a video of reservists from our company fighters, and the Americans were very excited to see this. We also have an office in Ukraine, we also received a lot of support from their team members, they said: 'We will help you understand how to cope, how to integrate work in the war.'"
Noam Zilberstein, CEO of HP indigo/Rami Zaranger
Video from the factory in Kiryat Gat
"Since the beginning of the war, we have been explaining and mediating the situation both to external customers and to our senior management abroad," says Noam Zilberstein, CEO of HP indigo. "Since October 7, we have received emotional messages of support from all directions.
On the same Saturday, I received a phone call from the global CEO of HP who was interested in the well-being of the employees and offered any help that would be needed. There was also overwhelming support from our customers spread around the world."
According to Zilberstein, "due to the fact that we are a global company with most of its clients abroad, the position always requires multiple flights.
This time, because there is an avoidance of arriving in Israel, we are even flying more.
I choose to open each lecture or meeting with a few minutes in which I connect to what is happening in Israel, talk about the issue of the abductees and only then move on to the business discourse.
"I don't take down the abductors either. People ask about it, are interested. The transition to the business discourse was made by showing a video that we shot in the second week of fighting from our factory in Kiryat Gat, which illustrates our commitment to business continuity even during war, in a situation where workers were drafted into the reserves and workers Others were evacuated from their homes.
"By the way, it also happened quite a few times when we were having Zoom calls, there was an alarm that required us to take a short break, get to the emergency room and come back. These experiences of theirs with us also teach them a lot about an illogical reality, which unfortunately has already become routine for us." .
Assaf Azoulai, VP of Marketing at the Team8 Foundation/Oral Cohen
Diskit for the mayor
"We have long planned to hold an investor conference in New York on November 5. When the war broke out, we debated a lot whether to actually do it or not," says Assaf Azoulai, VP of Marketing at the Team8 Fund - a venture capital group that builds and invests in companies in the fields of cyber, data, AI , fintech and digital health.
"Ultimately, we realized that it is impossible to talk about Israel being strong, that Israeli high-tech is strong, but not come to the conference or postpone it to another date.
Yes, we made the necessary adjustments, fewer people came, and part of the conference we did in a hybrid way.
Also, the opening night, which was originally supposed to be a celebratory cocktail party, became an event not only for investors, but an event for the financial community and the New York tech community, including people who have no connection to Israel.
"We held an evening that talked about Israeli tech and its durability. We didn't paint a picture that everything was rosy, but we explained that even though many reservists were recruited, we back them up; that we get under the stretcher of our companies that are in challenging times. We also talked about the fact that usually after Israel's wars, Even stronger from a business and technological point of view."
From the right: Team8 founder and managing partner Nadav Zafarir, economic envoy for North America Anat Katz, managing partner at Team8 Sarit Firon, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, managing partner at Team8 Rakfat Rusk Aminach, chairman and managing partner at Team8 Yuval Shahar , Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Dr. Albert Borla, CFO and partner in Team8 Roy Aldstein, partner in Team8 Dimitrios Kozoks/Ohad Kev, CRC
Among the participants of the conference were the Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Dr. Albert Burla, and the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.
About 250 people participated in the conference and we handed out discs to all the participants," Azoulai says.
"Also, Nadav Tzafrir, founder and managing partner of the Team8 Foundation, explained at the conference what happened on October 7.
He also presented the more difficult images, but alongside the horrors and hardships, he also showed signs of hope, so that investors would understand that, despite everything, Israel is still a technological power that can also be the factor that forms a bridge to Arab countries that need Israeli technology."
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