I visited P&G office in Tel Aviv. Lital Asher-Dotan, who established Procter & Gamble first R&D hub in Israel called “P&G Israel House of Innovation”, explained why P&G calls Israel a “startup nation.”

 Image of P&G office in Tel Aviv by Shannon Reaudeau

In the entry lobby of P&G office, which is 20 minutes away from Google’s office in Tel Aviv, there are a few samples of different products sold by P&G in Israel. Among the usual health and beauty brands (Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Oral B, Gillette, Tampax, Pampers …) and brands of household cleaners (Ariel, Lenor, Swiffer, Tide …) there were also different prizes and trophies P&G Israel has received for the development of innovative products. However, what surprised me the most was that besides all these products and prizes there was a copy of the acclaimed book Startup nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer.

Procter & Gamble takes Research and Development  seriously: it invests $2.8 Billion annually and has 9,300 employees in R&D worldwide. The Israel House of Innovation (IHI) was created five years ago by CEO Bob McDonald and one of the key goals is to create alliances between P&G and Israeli innovators.

Procter & Gamble’s Israel House of Innovation collaborates with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), the largest generic drug manufacturer in the world; the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which carries out more than 1/3 of all academic scientific research in Israel; Powermat, which has only 70 employees and is developing wireless battery rechargers. By the way, Jay-Z participates in the JV with Powermat and P&G  not only as a spokesperson but also as an investment partner.  P&G  has also signed on bilateral agreement with Israeli Chief Scientist providing Israeli start ups that collaborate with P&G favorable access to governmental funding.

Present in over 180 countries and with total revenues of about $80 Billion, P&G is the world’s largest Multinational consumer goods company. Procter & Gamble has promised to deliver 3-6 % of growth per year or about extra $5billion in annual revenue. Open innovation is the key to this growth: the giant established in 1837 aims to have 50% of all innovation (not only on new products but also on internal systems) having elements from outside of the company. Jeff Weedman, P&G Vice President, External BD:

            Our JV with TEVA represents the lessons learned that we need better access to Innovation and global abilities while we can provide the in-depth consumer knowhow.”

Lital Asher-Dotan explained why P&G calls Israel a startup nation:

-Israel has the highest density of tech start-ups in the world. Israel has about 80 companies listed on NASDAQ, more than all of Europe, Japan, Korea, India, and China combined.

-Israel is the biggest destination for global venture capital per capita. In recent years, many US based VCs have opened Israeli funds and/or Israeli offices – Sequoia ($580M), Benchmark ($490M). Greylock, Battery Ventures, Bessemer. Main accelerators in Israel are: Microsoft, VentureGeeks, The Junction, TechLoft, DreamIT Ventures,The Hive, UpWestLabs, The Library, and MobileMonday.

- Israel raises 2.5 times as much global venture capital as the U.S., 30 times more than Europe, 80 times more than India, and 350 times more than China.

-Israel has twice the number of engineers per capita than the US and Japan. 34% of its population holds university degrees (24% of the work force).

- Israel has the highest level of R&D spending relative to GDP in the world: 4,9% in 2009. OECD average is 2,3%.

- Israel holds the largest number of Nobel Prize winners this past decade. By the way, I had the chance to meet Dr. Dan Schechtman, winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for “the discovery of quasicrystals,” who told me his views on entrepreneurship.

-In Israel, Military technology is often transferred to other areas. For instance, Based on real-time image processing technology from Rafael’s Missile Division, Dr. Gabi Iddan from Given Imaging developed the PillCam™ capsule endoscope – the first ingestible camera in a pill for detection of GI disorders. The PillCam™ capsule is easily ingested by the patient and transmits high quality color images that enable physicians to directly visualize parts of the GI tract.  Capsule endoscopy is the only available ingestible diagnostic tool that allows direct visualization of the small intestine.

I have just outlined the key points why Israel is considered by P&G as a startup Nation. In a post for Techcrunch, Roi Carthy and Daniel Cunha, founders of Initial Capital, suggest what the Brazilian booming startup community could learn from the Israeli case.

::Forbes

Photo: Courtesy

TEANECK, NJ – As the minutes on the clock tick away, the chefs run about their kitchens furiously trying to complete their Taj Mahal-themed desserts.

“What have I got for you now?” booms the thickly accented master pastry chef Ron Ben-Israel as he overlooks the chefs’ workstations. “Another mandatory ingredient – tahini paste!”

This is “Sweet Genius,” the hit Food Network show that recently began its second season.

Chefs compete to earn the coveted title, win $10,000 and impress Ben-Israel, the show’s host, judge and original sweet genius, who often asks competitors to include ingredients not typically found in desserts.

“When you talk about a level of skill and craftsmanship, the other cake purveyors in the city are in awe of Ron’s work,” says Ashlea Halpern, New York Magazine’s strategist editor. “He’s one of the best in New York. He’s perfected the model.”

Ben-Israel doesn’t like to focus on the genius moniker, however, and he was even a bit intimidated by the idea when Food Network proposed it, he told JTA in an interview at Ron Ben-Israel Cakes, his New York bake shop. He prefers to concentrate on the “sweet” part of the title and considers himself more like a guide to the show’s contestants.

For the few who impress Ben-Israel enough to also earn the title, the recognition – and prize money – can be a career booster.

When pastry chef Amos Hayon competed on “Sweet Genius” last season, he was on the verge of returning to his native Israel, having failed to make a living in the United States. After Ben-Israel crowned him a sweet genius and awarded him $10,000, things began to pick up.

In addition to traveling to food festivals nationwide, Hayon is a pastry chef at a restaurant on Long Island in suburban New York.

He calls Ben-Israel an inspiration both for his accomplishments as a baker and as a gay Israeli who realized his dream.

“He’s my guru,” Hayon says. “He gave me a lot of energy, power to do this. Somebody came before me, and I know I can do this also.”

Ben-Israel’s confections can be seen on the pages of Martha Stewart Living, People, New York Magazine and Vogue, and they are staples at such establishments as the Waldorf-Astoria, Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton.

Cakes have always been popular, says Ben-Israel, 54, but television has given bakers permission to make them the main attraction.

“In a bar mitzvah you do the candle-lighting ceremony with the cake. Every birthday the cake is the big moment,” he says. Now because of the growing pop-culture spotlight, “every cake-maker knows how important they are. I always knew it.”

The Food Network studios are a long way from Ben-Israel’s beginnings in Tel Aviv, and even further from his original career as a dancer.

He attended a Tel Aviv high school that focused on the arts, and then while he was serving in the Israel Defense Forces in the late 1970s, a friend got him interested in ballet. After completing his mandatory army service, he joined Bat Dor, an Israeli dance troupe.

Ben-Israel then began studying dance techniques across Europe, Canada and the United States. When he arrived in New York City in the mid-1980s, he says he knew he was there to stay.

“I really feel Tel Aviv has a lot, but everything in New York is just more,” he says.

In between applying for grants to fund his dance studies, Ben-Israel began picking up odd jobs designing store window displays and working in bakeries.

“Toward the end of my career, grants were drying up and I needed to support myself,” recalls Ben-Israel, who had grown up watching his Viennese mother make fantastic desserts. “I was able to come in [to bakeries] and observe – and with my ego, tell them how to do it better.”

At the age of 36, after 15 years as a professional dancer, he began baking full time. In 1996, while on display in the windows of Mikimoto on Fifth Avenue, his cakes began grabbing national attention and Ben-Israel soon started receiving commissions from De Beers, Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf-Goodman.

The New York Times dubbed Ben-Israel “the Manolo Blahnik of cakes.”

In 1999 he opened Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York’s Soho neighborhood with one oven and one mixer. As people fled downtown New York after the 9/11 tragedy, he expanded his business.

Coming from a secular Israeli upbringing, Ben-Israel wasn’t ideologically interested in making his shop kosher, but for a caterer for some of New York City’s biggest hotels, it was a prudent business decision.

He chose OK Laboratories, the Chabad-affiliated kashrut organization headquartered in Brooklyn, which now certifies his shop’s parve cakes.

The Chabad rabbis, Ben-Israel says, have a certain spirit that has ignited his own passion for Judaism. He never thought about owning separate Passover dishes while living in Israel, but now he owns a set, as well as a dozen Haggadot, a shofar and a menorah.

“I became more sentimental,” he says. “It’s a matter of age, but also not being in Israel on a regular basis, I miss a lot of the traditions that are just natural in Israel and you don’t even think about it because you’re surrounded by Jews. So I had to distinguish myself.”

Jewish and Israeli cultures have certainly influenced the master baker. Challah, he says, is one of his favorite things to bake – but he doesn’t do just any challah.

“My version has olive oil, semolina flour, honey, and I make six braids,” he says. “It takes the whole day.”

As the son of Holocaust survivors, being Israeli and Jewish are sources of pride for Ben-Israel.

A “textbook second-generation survivor,” Ben-Israel remembers listening to his parents’ stories and realizing an emptiness within them that has trickled down to him. The creativity of baking helps fill that emptiness, he says.

“My parents were artists, so my salvation was to make pretty things – and ultimately delicious things at the same time,” he says.

In 2007, Ben-Israel designed a cake celebrating the 100th anniversary of New York’s Plaza Hotel, which the Israeli conglomerate Elad Properties had purchased earlier in the decade. The connection quickly raised his profile in his homeland. The chef tries to return to Israel at least once a year, and he would love to do an Israeli version of “Sweet Genius.”

While Ben-Israel no longer votes in Israeli elections – he doesn’t believe it’s right for him to vote if he doesn’t live in the country – he maintains a strong sense of pride in Israel and its accomplishments, especially in women’s and gay rights.

Still, he says, there is a long way to go.

“I always admire people in Israel who come out because it’s such a small place and everybody’s looking at you,” Ben-Israel says, noting that while he himself came out in Israel, being openly gay was common at the art school he attended.

Between running his cake shop, hosting “Sweet Genius,” and teaching at The International Culinary Center, founded as The French Culinary Institute, Ben-Israel appears to have time for little else. Still, he continues to seek new challenges.

Perhaps peacemaker?

“The Palestinians do cakes with the same products,” he says. “I’d be open to bridge the gap with sugar and cake.”

::JPost

Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protectionhas launched a new mobile app that encourages environmentally-friendly behavior, intended to teach people how to lead a greener life and save money.

The free app was launched as part of the ministry’s Let’s Think Green campaign.

“After years of being accustomed to commercials that encourage wasteful and unnecessary consumerism, we stand on the same stage and call for smart consumerism,” the Minister of Environmental Protection, Gilad Erdan, said.

He added that “we will continue to address the public wherever it may be: on television, the internet, and smart phones, in order to raise awareness to the fact that with small behavioral changes, each and every one of us can save hundreds of shekels and reduce environmental damage.”

Green Tips

The app has several tips on how to cut costs by implementing green behavior at home, at work, on the road and in nature.

The app is introduced by the popular Israeli comedian Tal Friedman, whose character guides the users in an amusing way.

Here are some of the tips you can find on the app:

• Driving 90 km/h instead of 110 km/h reduces gas consumption by 15 percent
• An electricity saving light bulb consumes five times less electricity than standard light bulbs and still produces the same light intensity.
• Driving at a steady speed while avoiding acceleration or strong braking decreases fuel consumption.
• Disconnecting chargers and electric appliances after use reduces electricity consumption. These devices continue to consume power even when not in use.

The app also has a Test Yourself questionnaire that examines users awareness of financial savings made possible by “thinking green,” based on the environmental tips.

The app, called “environment – let’s think green” in Hebrew, is available for use in Hebrew, English, Russian and Arabic.

::NoCamels

One of Europe’s strongest economies takes advice from Israelis. A crowd of some 400 Swedish entrepreneurs, managers and venture capitalists gathered in a small conference hall in the town of Kista, near Stockholm.

The occasion was the 10th anniversary of entrepreneurial incubator STING, one of the biggest in Sweden. Erel Margalit, veteran Israeli entrepreneur and founder of the JVP Fund, got up to speak.

Margalit came to Sweden for a quick two-day visit to try to help fix or at least improve the Swedish startup industry. In some respects this seems to make little sense – how come Sweden, one of the strongest and wealthiest economies in Europe that has produced giant enterprises like IKEA, Ericsson, H&M and Skype, is turning of all places to Israel for advice on developing successful startups? But this is exactly what happened.

“Israel has created a large quantity of technology in relation to its size,” says Margalit. “It’s wonderful to see that the world is very interested to learn from us. When I visited Spain they practically tied me up to prevent me from leaving. They are simply astonished by Israel’s success.”

The JVP Fund, which is based in Jerusalem, was founded by Margalit in 1993 and manages eight venture capital funds totaling more than $900 dollars. JVP’s strong connection with Sweden began with an investment in t Swedish company Qlik Tech. After the stock was issued successfully on NASDAQ the Swedes realized that Israeli know-how and experience in establishing startup companies and encouraging entrepreneurs could be of benefit to them.

In his recent visit, Margalit met with local high-tech business leaders, venture capital managers, government officials, economists and top advisors of large Swedish corporations. “We came out of the meeting with many new ideas,” one Swedish business leader told Margalit.

The Swedes explain that one of the main problems they confront is how to expand into the international market. Swedish entrepreneurs are skilled and creative, but with a population of nine million people, the local market is small and limiting. Sweden has created many international companies, but the startups that have developed there in recent years have had difficulty breaking out of the country’s borders.

Another interesting problem is that Swedish high-tech workers are reluctant to leave secure and stable positions in a large company and are anxious about taking a chance on a small startup.

To cope with these problems Margalit recommends that the Swedes give incentives to entrepreneurs and investors in the way that Israel has done for the last 20 years, including the Initiative Program of the Ministry of Industry Trade and Employment and the Chief Scientist, which in the 1990s aided in establishing Israeli venture capital funds.

Margalit also recommends lowering taxes that prevent companies from giving employees options. “When a person risks his career and moves to a small company you must give him a way to make a profit,” he says. The Swedes agree, but it is also clear to them that this will be difficult because such measures contradict the social democratic, equality-for-all tradition that also demands collecting high taxes.

‘Israelis love to invent’

In one of the meetings, a local venture capitalist asked Margalit how Israel has succeeded in attracting so many international companies to establish development centers in Israel – from Intel and Google to Apple. “American companies understand that Israelis love to invent”, Margalit replied. “And this is contagious.”

In his speech to the participants of the STING incubator conference, Margalit stressed the principles on the basis of which startups succeed. “You need to join technology experts with artists, writers and authors, and understand that we are in a cultural revolution that also integrates technology. Art schools are as strategically significant as engineering schools,” he said.

Per Hedberg, STING’s director, says that Sweden and Israel are essentially very similar. “Israel is a small country without a local market that tries to focus on innovation, just like Sweden. The focus on creating international companies attracts me to Israel.”

Margalit adds that Israel can also learn from the Swedes. “The combination between Swedish equality and the state’s readiness to invest in the private sector, and the innovation and creativity of Israel can conquer the world,” he says.

Swedish-Israeli relations were tense in recent years. There were tendentious stories and coverage about Israel in the Swedish media – like a 2009 report that Israeli soldiers harvested the organs of dead Palestinians – and this created strong negative feelings about Sweden in Israel.

“Most Swedes people do not have a position about Israel, positive or negative,” says Joseph Ackerman, the economic attaché of the Ministry of Industry Trade and Employment in Stockholm who accompanied Margalit on his visit. “There are anti-Israel extremists, but there are also extremists who love Israel very much. The media is relatively unified in its views against Israel – but this is true also in Israel. Everyone goes beyond sound proportions.”

However, Ackerman stresses that visits by Israeli high-tech experts like Margalit and trade agreements between Swedish and Israeli companies increase the possibility of talking about what is positive in Israel. “Indeed, when political events happen, it also influences business relations. Why will companies go to Israel with all the security problems? It means we must be better and more innovative, and bring added value that will attract them to do business in Israel.”

::YNet

Claire Lomas approaches the London Marathon finishing line in her £43,000 ReWalk bionic suit. Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images

A paralysed woman has become the first person to complete a marathon in a bionic suit.

Claire Lomas finished the London Marathon 16 days after the race began. The 32-year-old said she was “over the moon” as she completed the 26.2-mile route, which she started on 22 April with 36,000 other participants.

The former chiropractor was in tears as she became the first person to complete any marathon using a bionic ReWalk suit at 12.50pm on Tuesday.

Hundreds lined the streets as she made her final steps to complete the race. Three mounted members of the Household Cavalry gave her a guard of honour as she crossed the finishing line on the Mall.

Lomas, a jewellery designer who was left paralysed from the chest down following a horse-riding accident in 2007, said: “There were times when I questioned whether I would make it when I was training.

“Once I started, I just took each day as it came and every step got me a step closer.”

Claire Lomas. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

A spokeswoman for the mounted regiment said the riders were there to give Lomas “extra support because she is passionate about horses”.

Lomas will not appear in the official results and did not receive a medal when she finished as competitors have to complete the course on the same day to qualify for a medal, organisers said.

But a number of marathon runners decided to donate their own medals to Lomas. Jacqui Rose, from Southampton, who contributed her medal along with about 12 others, said: “She has epitomised what I thought the London Marathon was all about.

“That medal, when you have completed it and gone through all the pain of it, symbolises that achievement of what you have gone out of your way to do for charity.

“For her not to have got one ridicules what the marathon was all about.”

Holly Branson, daughter of the tycoon Richard – whose company Virgin sponsors the race – was at the finish line waiting to give Lomas the Virgin trophy for endurance. The company hands out the award annually.

She said: “She has done the most amazing job. It was so emotional when she crossed that line. Tears welled up in my eyes and everyone was cheering.”

Lomas, from Eye Kettleby, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, raised more than £86,000 for Spinal Research, a charity which funds medical research around the world to develop reliable treatments for paralysis caused by a broken back or neck.

She said: “When I was in hospital I saw a lot of people with similar injuries to me and a lot worse.

“I have had tremendous support since my accident which I am so grateful for. Some don’t have that. Some people lose the use of their arms as well. A cure needs to be found.”

She walked about two miles a day, cheered on by her husband, Dan, her parents and her 13-month-old daughter, Maisie.

Lomas said she was now going to write a book and “spend some good time with Maisie”, adding: “Then I’ll think of something else daft to do.”

A number of celebrities have also lent their support by walking a mile alongside her, including the TV presenter Gabby Logan and her husband, the former international rugby star Kenny, and the TV presenter and adventurer Ben Fogle.

Lomas broke her neck, back and ribs and punctured a lung when her horse Rolled Oats threw her off as she took part in the Osberton horse trials in Nottinghamshire in 2007.

The £43,000 ReWalk suit, designed by the Israeli entrepreneur Amit Goffer, enables people with lower-limb paralysis to stand, walk and climb stairs through motion sensors and an onboard computer system.

A shift in the wearer’s balance, indicating their desire to take, for example, a step forward, triggers the suit to mimic the response that the joints would have if they were not paralysed.

::The Guardian

I visited Google’s office in Tel Aviv where about 50 people work in Marketing & Sales and over 200 in the engineers department. Yes, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google founders, are Jewish. However,  this post has no religious orientation. If you are looking for some sort of religious conspiracy theory go elsewhere, here you will learn only about what Google is really up to in Israel.

Google office in downtown Tel Aviv

Google first opened its office in Israel in 2006. I visited two of the four floors used by Google on the 21^st and 22^nd floors of the famous Levinstein Tower in downtown Tel Aviv. Although not as impressive as the famed Googleplex in Mountain View, California, the offices offer magnificent views of the Mediterranean sea. Each room has its own theme, with walls and furnishings of all colors. There is a meeting room filled with giant legos, a pinball machine, Nintendo Wii, Playstation and other games. There is also a fully equipped music room with guitars, drums, microphones, professional sound system, etc. Add to that a silent room, a 3D printer, and free food at each floor. The feeling of being in a kindergarten almost made me forget that I was in one of the world’s largest multinational companies.

Google also employs about 80 engineers in its second office in Israel located in Haifa, Israel’s technological center. The Haifa office is just 2 thousand meters away from the beach; I saw pictures but I did not visit that office. The second office also has toys in the lobby, game rooms, beanbag chairs, free food, and so on. Some affirm these Google methods do not enhance creativity. Personally, I believe that, at least, it incentives employees to spend more time together and create stronger personal bonds, which will pay off later by increasing team work.  Here is a video about work-life balance at Google Israel.

After visiting the premises, Inna Weiner, a software engineer, presented products and services that have started and/or  are being developed in Israel:

Live Results is being developed in Israel. It allows people to find data they are looking for directly in the Google webpage, without the need to click on a link that will direct visitors to a website. For instance, you search “Weather in Rio de Janeiro” and it directly shows the forecast instead of only links to websites (in case you are curious, it is 25 degrees Celsius in the Beautiful city today). I believe Live Results is an effort to make users spend more time in the Google page. By the way,  in April, it was the first time people spent more time on Facebook than on Google in Brazil.

Person finder application. An app that was very useful during the Turkey Earthquake. Whenever a natural disaster takes place, the person finder application goes live, aiming to provide reliable and actual information about missing people. People basically have two buttons, “I am looking for someone” and “I have info about someone.”. I enjoy this kind of innovation; it makes me think of Chief Almir using Google Earth to fight deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The person finder application was developed as part of the 20% of free time that engineers have at Google to work on any project of their choice, as long as that project has been approved by their superior. Bear in mind that whatever is developed during these 20% of “free time” is owned by Google, not by the employees. By the way, people in the Sales & Mktg department don’t have the 20% of free time privilege. However, in the Tel Aviv office they can still use the 3D printer and eat for free all day long.

Google Suggest – The Autocomplete Search Tool that let us “search faster than the speed of typing” was fully developed in Israel. Personally, I find this tool way too intrusive. I don’t like to have the impression that I am so dumb that an algorithm can predict what I am about to search for. I am afraid that tomorrow a machine will know what I am about to think.

Digital Dead Sea Scrolls Project. Google has digitized one of the oldest manuscript ever discovered and allows everyone to examine it online with high resolution. For instance, if you search for “And the world shall dwell with the lamb,” you can instantly find the exact location in the digital version of the original scroll. This project was such a success that in the first day it was live more people saw the dead sea scrolls than in the entire year before.

Inna was very excited to present the work Google has done with the Yad Vashem memorial, dedicated to victims of the Holocaust. This collaboration has created an online collaborative archive of photographs of the museum. Basically, Google uploaded thons of physical documents, such as photos. Anyone, anywhere can not only find information about each person and/or location in the pictures but also easily add information.

Google Insights for search started in Israel and now is being improved by Google engineers all over the world. It is a free tool to analyze search queries. However, only ratios and not the total number of queries are revealed. For instance, you can verify that the total amount of searches for the term “Pele” was about three times higher than ”Maradona” in the past 30 days.

In-Page Analytics was fully developed in Israel. Basically, it lets you quantify precise information about your website. For instance, you can measure the percentage of visitors who clicked on any clickable item in your website.

Receive emails through SMS in Ghana. Google Israel developed an app that allows people to receive emails in SMS format. In Ghana, just like in Guinea Conakry where I worked, broadband internet is not widespread. However, most people have cell phones. When you send an email to someone registered in this service, the person receives the email as a SMS. I hope Google has found a better way of filtering spams than in regular Gmail.

Interactive videos in youtube started in Israel and was taken to Mountain View to be fully developed.

“Got the wrong Bob” for Gmail, Priority inbox for Gmail, Hot topics and hot searches, all started in the Israel office.

Jonathan Riftin, Industry Analyst based in Tel Aviv, explained the Structure of the Marketing & Sales team in Israel:

In Tel Aviv, the Marketing & Sales team only supports big clients. Small and medium businesses are handled by the Mktg & Sales office in Dublin. The Mktg & Sales team is divided in small groups. Each group contains a client manager, account strategists and industry analysts. Client managers are responsible for meeting and handling large accounts, which can be the government, big Israeli companies, universities, and so on. Industry Analysts main tasks are to follow trends and complete market research. For instance, if an airline company wants to open a direct flight from Tel Aviv to Sao Paulo, the industry analyst will measure the amount of queries relating Israel and Brazil and come up with an estimated price of the related sponsored search terms. The estimative is then validated by the client manager who will present it to the prospective client. Account strategists are responsible for building and assisting online campaigns. If an agency builds the online campaign for a client, the account strategist will monitor it and suggest ways to improve the campaign, always focusing on maximizing ROI.

I have also visited Google’s office in the center of Paris. To my surprise, I found out that the Sales & marketing teams are designed in very similar manners worldwide. When Jonathan Riftin, Industry Analyst based in Tel Aviv, explained what the Sales & Marketing team does in Israel, it was like replaying the speech I heard a month ago from Christian Vigne, account strategist at Google Paris, explaining what he does in France.

t’s picture-postcard perfect: Zichron Ya’akov (“Jacob’s Memorial”), an Israeli town at the southern end of the Carmel mountain range 22 miles south of Haifa, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and boasting ideal conditions for growing wine grapes.

Dotted with bed-and-breakfasts and an increasing number of hotels and activities for visitors, Zichron is one of the country’s premier destinations for wine- and nature-lovers as well as Israeli history buffs.

Hameyasdim Street, the main street of Zichron Ya’akov
Photo courtesy Ministry of Tourism

One of the first Jewish villages in what was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine, Tzammarin – as it was originally known — was settled by 100 Romanian immigrants in December 1882. Unfortunately, as the headstones in the Zichron Ya’akov cemetery attest, many of these unprepared European newcomers met an untimely death from an outbreak of malaria, many others left, and the survivors discovered just how difficult it was to farm in the rocky terrain.

So the French patron Baron Edmond James de Rothschild stepped in to help, as he did in other early Jewish settlements, and named the town in memory of his father, James (Jacob/Ya’akov in Hebrew).

“He gave them money to continue when they weren’t able to establish the settlement on their own,” says tour guide Esti Herskowitz, “and he figured, ‘If I’m going to be giving all this money I may as well get to name the place.’”

The First Aliyah Museum, housed in what used to be the offices of Rothschild’s employees, offers seven multimedia presentations relating the story of the European immigrants who came to Israel — in particular Zichron Ya’akov — starting in 1882, and how they struggled to get by in the face of illness and poverty.

The First Aliyah Museum
Photo courtesy Ministry of Tourism

Cradle of Israel’s wine industry

Rothschild, owner of the famous Chateau Lafite winery, sent over cuttings of French grapevines when it became clear that Zichron was prime wine country where vintners had labored thousands of years earlier.

Rothschild hired professional planners who designed a main street (“midrahov”) with French-style housing, long interior courtyards and rear buildings for agricultural equipment, with the grand Ohel Ya’akov synagogue (again named for James) at its northern tip.

This house of worship, similar to another built by Rothschild farther northeast in Rosh Pina, is still in use and is considered one of the ten most beautiful synagogues in Israel.

The midrahov (pedestrian street), whose official name is Hameyasdim (Founders) Street, is the heart of Zichron today, with many of the original renovated buildings framing a bustling retail area with cafés, galleries and small shops offering everything from handcrafted jewelry to handcrafted wooden toys.

“You can fall in love with Zichron while exploring all the funky shops and café bistros,” Herskowitz says. One of her recommended stops on the main drag is the Tut Neyar (“paper mulberry”) natural paper-making mill and workshop. You can book workshops and demonstrations in advance.

On the strip are also an assortment of bistros and restaurants offering Israeli, Italian, Chinese, French and vegetarian fare. One of the more unusual ones, the Kashtunyo Wine Cellar, is an eight-table restaurant housed in an old underground wine cellar. It features vintages from Israel, Italy, Australia, California, France, and South Africa, and serves Mediterranean dishes such as cheese and stuffed grape leaves.

In 2008, the municipality began further developing the midrahov leading down toward the Carmel-Mizrahi Winery.

If at first you don’t succeed…

Carmel-Mizrahi is a story of persistence if ever there was one. It was established by the baron in 1885 as Israel’s first winery. The venture seemed to be going well until 1892, when the grapevines were decimated by a bacterial disease. Rothschild’s people managed to get hold of some American grape seedlings that were resistant to this bacteria, and things started looking up.

“That was the beginning of Carmel Winery, which is interesting because it’s an old building with brand-new equipment,” says Herskowitz. “In the winery there’s a shop and a restaurant with amazing food in a quaint setting. They recently redid the place so you get the full Carmel Winery experience.”

She’s referring to Carmel Wine & Culture, a complex that includes a wine shop, restaurant, two specialist tasting rooms, a small cinema and barrel room in one of Rothschild’s historic underground cellars.

Here you can see winemaking and book “tutored tastings” on both a large and small scale because, although Carmel is the largest winery in Israel, turning out 15 million bottles per year at four separate facilities, the Zichron branch also has a small state-of-the-art facility for making more expensive wines. Several of these have won prestigious international awards.

“The story of Carmel symbolizes the story of Israel,” says Adam Montefiore, Carmel’s wine development director. “It is the oldest brand and the first exporter of Israeli wine. The first electricity and the first telephone ever installed in Israel were at Carmel. Three prime ministers have worked here: David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol and Ehud Olmert – for Olmert it was a holiday job.”

Though Carmel is the oldest and largest winery in the area, it’s hardly the only one.

The history of Tishbi Estate Winery, in neighboring Binyamina, goes back as far as Carmel’s. In 1882, Rothschild tapped Michael Chamiletzki to plant and develop the vineyards of Zichron (the family surname was changed to Tishbi in 1925 by the poet Chaim Nachman Bialik, but that’s a different story).

Inside the Tishbi Winery
Photo courtesy Ministry of Tourism 

Michael’s descendant Jonathan Tishbi now heads the winery, and reports that he can still remember harvesting by hand and bringing the wagons of grapes to be pressed in the winery.

The Smadar Winery, a small boutique winery right off the midrahov, was established in 1998 by Moty Shapira, a fourth-generation vintner and descendant of town founders. Smadar, which has a boutique hotel on the premises, produces red dry wines made from the family vineyards and offers tours, and tastings.

Zichron is also home to a microbrewery called Pavo (“peacock” in Latin).

The Aaronson spy story

In 1915, a noted Zichron botanist named Aaron Aaronson rebelled against the oppressive Turkish Ottoman rulers of Palestine by co-founding NILI, an underground group that supplied intelligence to British military leaders interested in overthrowing the Turks. He was joined by his assistant Avshalom Feinberg and his sisters, among others. In 1917, the Turks, capturing one of Sarah Aaronson’s carrier pigeons, broke NILI’s code and arrested and tortured her. She committed suicide four days later without divulging any information to her interrogators.

The other members of NILI met similarly tragic fates: Aaron was killed in a plane crash on his way to the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. Avshalom was killed by Bedouins in the Sinai as he traveled to meet secretly with British commanders stationed there. Two other NILI members were executed by the Ottomans.

The family home on the midrahov, the Aaronson House, is now a museum with multimedia presentations, sculptures and photographs about life in early Zichron, the Aaronson family and NILI. In the yard you can still see some of the mulberry bushes planted in the 1900s to feed silkworms. Rothschild had hoped to foster a silk manufacturing base here and in Rosh Pina, but it didn’t work out.

“Across the courtyard from Aaron’s house is where Sarah Aaronson’s story unfolds,” says Herskowitz, who likens the storyline to a soap opera. This is where the British spy, a young newlywed, shot herself during a brief stop at home while being transferred from one Turkish prison to another.

Herskowitz cautions that Aaronson House is so popular it’s important to book reservations well in advance.

Making filters and liqueur

Of course, the British did eventually come to power, and the town began to flourish. In 1935, there were 1,650 inhabitants in Zichron Ya’akov. In 1951, three years after the founding of the state of Israel, the population had grown to 4,200. Today it is home to about 19,000 people including a growing number of North American émigrés.

One of Zichron’s prettiest attractions is Ramat Hanadiv, a botanical garden where Rothschild and his family are buried. It has well-tended walkways and playgrounds.

Herskowitz recommends booking a tour at an air-conditioner filter factory at Zichron’s entrance. Though that may not sound exciting, there is more to it than filters; it is one of seven enterprises run by an unusual group of German Christians who live on their own kibbutz in Zichron, founded in 1963. “On the bottom level, Bertha makes jams and sauces that you can buy, and they now opened a little restaurant as well,” says Herskowitz.

In the Zichron region are many other attractions. Yokneam houses the decade-old Morad Winery, which offers tours demonstrating how it turns fruits, vegetables and herbs into exotic wines and liqueurs.

The Israel Salt Company, Israel’s major producer of salt since 1922, is based in nearby Atlit, and it offers tours too. In the 1990s, the company began raising various species of saltwater fish for fish-raising farms in Israel and abroad.

Atlit is also the site of a restored British detention camp that functioned as a temporary holding facility for thousands of illegal Jewish immigrants from 1939 to1948. Afterward, the 25-acre camp became an absorption center for many Jews arriving in Israel from all over the world. Visitors can view a model of the original camp; restored barracks; the main reception facility where new immigrants had to remove their clothes for disinfection; a memorial to those who died en route; and a computerized information database containing information about all the immigrants and ships that set out for the shores of Israel.

::Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

We’ve compiled a list of the top 10 things to see in Israel on Google Street View, the places and sites we feel will give you a real taste of what Israel is all about. The list is a little different to our guide to the best things to see and do in Israel, because currently Google Street View is only available in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa.

And if this little lot don’t convince you to go buy that ticket, nothing will!

*** Depending on your Internet connection, the views below might take a few seconds to load.

The Western “Wailing” Wall (HaKotel)

The legendary Western “Wailing” Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem is a must-see and one of those sites that will stay in the memory banks forever…read more about the Western Wall here.

Tel Aviv beach front

Check out those amazing sandy beaches of Tel Aviv (to your left)!

Baha’i Gardens, Haifa

The Baha’i Gardens are one of northern Israel’s treasures, and highly recommended. You can’t actually access them in Google Street View, but you can get a glimpse of them and the surrounding area.

View of the Old City from the Mount of Olives

This is one of the most amazing views of the Old City and Dome of the Rock you can experience…

HaYarkon Park, Tel Aviv

HaYarkon Park is an amazing green lung in the heart of Tel Aviv. Have a stroll through the park, check out the HaYarkon River, and watch out for the mums with prams!

Allenby Street, Tel Aviv

One of Tel Aviv’s main arteries, we included it because from here you can get to some of the most happening streets in Tel Aviv, including Shenkin, Ben Yehuda, King George, and Dizengoff. And you can also experience some of Tel Aviv’s nightmare traffic!

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Tel Aviv Port

Another of Tel Aviv’s most popular attractions, full of things to see and do…for all the family!

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Via Dolorosa, Old City, Jerusalem

Stroll down the legendary Via Dolorosa – but watch out for the hordes of tourists!

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Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv

One of Tel Aviv’s most charming and most photographed neighborhoods!

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Old Jaffa

Have a look round the main streets of Old Jaffa and Jaffa Port. Unfortunately you can’t check out the charming old lanes that are a must-see (OK, so come and see them in real-time…)!

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::iGoogledIsrael

Yoram Ya’akobi, director of Microsoft Israel’s Development Center (photo credit: Courtesy)

Microsoft’s best and brightest new technologies, many developed in Israel, were on display at the tech giant’s Think Next event in Tel Aviv, where visitors got a peek at no fewer than 40 new projects being developed at Microsoft’s labs and development centers in Israel. Chief among the technologies were those dealing with the management of large amounts of data — “big data,” as Yoram Ya’akobi, director of Microsoft Israel’s Development Center, put it — along with ways to make smartphones more responsive and enhanced applications for augmented reality.

But the real revelation at a press conference held by Ya’akobi and some of Microsoft Israel’s top developers at the show was the extent of Microsoft’s adoption of Israeli technology in a wide range of its products. Israel is home to one of only three Microsoft global development centers outside of the US (the other two are in India and China), and since it began buying start-ups in 1987, the company has acquired six Israeli companies — more than in any other country other than the US and Canada.

Rumors have swirled for years that major parts of its Windows operating system were developed in Israel, something the company has confirmed, although it has never specified just which components of Windows are “Israeli.” But MS is not keeping any secrets regarding where it is developing its latest technology, especially its Kinect system, which allows people to interact with computer systems. Kinect was originally developed for its xBox gaming system, allowing users to insert themselves into a virtual game or adventure. But now Kinect technology is being used to develop games and interactive applications for the PC, and large components of that effort are being developed by Microsoft Israel.

“All the face recognition technology being used with Kinect was developed in Israel,” said Ya’akobi. “If you see an application with face recognition, you know it was made here.” Other important MS projects being developed almost exclusively by the Israel team are applications involving business intelligence and integrating devices developed for the consumer market into business.

Israel is even “exporting” the Think Next event, said Ya’akobi. Think Next, now in its third year in Israel, which was the first country to hold the event, “has become one of Microsoft’s most important events, and it has been so successful that Think Nexts will be held in the US, India, China, and other places,” he said. “There are now 25 to 30 Think Next events annually, and it all started in Israel.”

Besides Kinect, “big data” analytics are “the next big thing,” said Ya’akobi,offering a career tip to those trying to figure out what to do with their lives. “Jewish mothers today will want their children to become data analysts, because that’s where the jobs are going to be.” Some 200,000 positions are set to open up in data analytics in the next few years. Among the demo applications shown by Ya’akobi and MS Israel staff were several that allow users to marshal large amounts of information and quickly dissect or otherwise use it. One demo, for example, allows users of the xBox entertainment component to get recommendations for movies that they are likely to enjoy based on their previous choices, preferences, and ways they use the system.

Another very promising technology being developed for smartphones will allow the phone to fulfill commands based on location, time, and context. The On{x} system will be an open-source style rule set that will allow anyone to develop smartphone apps to accomplish anything using the phone’s GPS system, accelerometer, and other features. Thus, if you forget an item when visiting someone’s house, you can program your phone to remind you to pick up the item the next time you are there, without having to set up a reminder in advance. Application using On{x} will help users in dozens of contexts, said Ya’akobi.

While many of the demos were impressive, most of the technology displayed is still under development, so it may be a while before products using these technologies hit the market. Nevertheless, Microsoft is very excited about the work its Israel unit is doing. To MS, said Ya’akobi, Israel has the right balance between great ideas and start-up knowhow — a combination that is hard to find elsewhere. “There are great ideas all over,” Ya’akobi said. “But Israel goes beyond ideas. We in Israel take the ideas, build them, and then sell them. This is a triple play that is unique to Israel. I recently discussed this with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer,” Ya’akobi added, and as far as Ballmer is concerned, the more Israeli technology Microsoft can rope in, the better. “His question was, how can we take Israeli talent and use it to develop products for Microsoft, and for the rest of the world.”

::The Times of Israel