The Pragmatist

Stef Wertheimer is not a Utopian, but a pragmatic man of action who believes in the positive force of working together as the basis for fostering understanding among people. He was presented with the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal for his services to peacemaking. By Igal Avidan

​​You could say that Stef Wertheimer has had three lives. His first life began with his birth in Kippenheim, Germany, in 1926. The Wertheimers were a middle-class family that ran a guest house, a butcher shop, and a mill. Sadly, none of these enterprises helped them when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. Four years later, the family arrived in Tel Aviv as refugees in search of a new life.

Even as a child, Stef Wertheimer had industrial vision. A book compiled by his friends to mark his 80th birthday contains a plan of a model industrial centre drawn by the 12-year-old Stef.

Only a few years later, the refugee child had grown up and joined the British Army, where he developed firearms during the Second World War. He later used this spirit of invention in the Jewish Underground when fighting against the British.

Following the establishment of the State of Israel, he headed a department in the state-owned armaments company, Rafael. He was fired in 1952 because of his lack of formal training. In order to support his wife and two children, he set up a small workshop for the production of metal tools in a wooden shed.

"Work during the day, pray in the evening"

The Coordination Council of Christian-Jewish Societies recently celebrated its annual "Week of Brotherliness", the motto of which this year was a quote from the founder of the state of Israel, David Ben Gurion: "Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist."

Israelis and Palestinians in Hebron (photo: dpa)
Palestinians and Israelis working side by side to remove road blocks in Hebron: Stef Wertheimer believes that if people in the Middle East were to be economically successful, in particular with Germany's assistance, the impact on their interaction with each other would be positive

​​The ceremony at which the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal was presented to Stef Wertheimer was the highpoint of the week. How ironic, therefore, that this particular 81-year-old entrepreneur doesn't believe in miracles. He believes instead in the positive effect of work, which brings people together.

Having been presented with the award on stage, the host asked Wertheimer to say a few words about religion. It may have been succinct, but his answer spoke volumes: "To be honest, as I always say: you should work during the day and pray in the evening."

Wertheimer the entrepreneur

In his second life, Wertheimer founded and managed two successful companies: "Iscar", which became a global player in the metalworking industry, and Lehavim, which produced rotor blades and turbine blades for jet planes and turbines in cooperation with a US company.

Now in his third life, Wertheimer is trying to realise his vision of creating peace in the Middle East by laying a strong foundation on which the economy can grow. This was what led him into politics in the 1970s, when he joined the new liberal Centrist party, "Dash", and was elected to the Israeli Parliament in 1977.

However, his foray into politics lasted only four years: irritated and disappointed by the constraints and restrictions of political life, Wertheimer resigned from parliament and channelled his energy into getting actual results and directly implementing his ideas. It was at this stage of his life that he began founding industrial parks, above all in Galilee and the Negev.

Following a traffic accident in 1983, Wertheimer handed over the reins of both companies to his son, Eytan. Ever since, he has devoted his time to helping start-up companies, some of which are Jewish-Arab projects, in six of the industrial parks he founded. Wertheimer does not select his projects on the basis of any ideology; his only condition for supporting a project is that it manufactures good products for which there is a market.

The story of Jamila Chir

One such a project involved Jamila Chir, who is known in Israel as "Grandma Jamila." The 68-year-old Arab women comes from a poor family. In order to feed her children, she began making natural olive oil soap at home. Wertheimer asked her if she would be able to produce more soap if demand increased.

"So we brought her to our industrial park, gave her some advice, and helped her with her first catalogue," says Wertheimer.

Jamila Chir was successful and was able to bring her emigrant children back home. "Today I am very proud of this woman, who runs a family company and employs between 20 and 30 people," explains Wertheimer. "Five years ago, she was at home alone with no idea how she was going to sell her soap."

National and international recognition

Wertheimer's cooperation with Jamila Chir has earned the Jewish industrialist and the Arab woman recognition both in Israel and further afield. Wertheimer was presented with the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal in Düsseldorf on 25 March in recognition of his "Vision for Peace" in the Middle East.

The pragmatic entrepreneur expects Germany to support the pacification of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by providing technological assistance for training and industrialization, not only in Israel, but throughout the Middle East. This, he says, would guarantee a more peaceful future for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Igal Avidan

© Qantara.de 2008

Translated from the German by Aingeal Flanagan

Qantara.de

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