THE LOUNGE
1. Israel-America
This past Wednesday at Ronit Farms in the Sharon area, the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, which is dedicated to promoting trade and economic relations between Israel and the US, held their annual gala event. Ofra Strauss, the chairperson of the chamber of commerce and host of the event, who welcomed guests. The keynote speaker was Speaker of the Knesset
Yuli Edelstein, and during his speech he was updated that US President Donald Trump had at that moment officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. A special Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to businessman Michael
Strauss, Ofra Strauss’s father. Before he took to the stage receive the prize, Strauss the elder was surprised with a recorded greeting from PepsiCo CEO Indra
Nooyi. Attending the evening were: Senior US Commercial Officer Greg Briscoe; Eli Groner, director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office;
Oded Rose, CEO of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce; Gil Shwed, Marius Nacht, and David Maimon.
2. Shalva National Center
A festive ceremony was held last week at Jerusalem’s Shalva National Center in which over 2 0 0 Bank Yahav employees were acknowledged for their volunteer activity in 2017. Guests were greeted by Bank Yahav CEO Shaul Gelbard, taken on a tour of Shalva’s new premises, treated to a lecture by Rona Ramon and handed certificates of appreciation as well as gifts.
3. Tony Blair
Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, and former Quartet envoy to the Middle East, and currently the founder of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, visited Beit Hatfutsot – The Museum of the Jewish People, on Friday. He received a private tour by Irina
Nevzlin, chair of the Board of Directors of the museum and president of the Nadav Foundation, along with Dan Tadmor, CEO of Beit Hatfutsot.
4. Sir Frank Lowy
Frank Lowy, a Holocaust survivor who fought in the IDF Golani Brigade, was knighted in the United Kingdom by the Queen. In the ceremony, which was held at Windsor Castle last weekend, Queen Elizabeth II knighted the Australian-Israeli billionaire who built his fortune with own two hands for his contribution to the British economy and his philanthropic activities in the kingdom. Lowy, 87, is married to Shirley, they have three children and live in Sydney, Australia.
This past weekend, Lowy knelt before the Queen as she put her sword on one of his shoulders and then on the other and offered him the title of Sir Frank Lowy.
5. The Crown
British Ambassador David Quarrey and his partner Aldo Henriquez held a screening at their home last Wednesday of the first episode of the second season of Partner TV and Netflix’s
The Crown. Partner Communications CEO Itzik Benvenisti pushed the button on the remote control to start the screening, just two days before the series was scheduled to become available to Netflix subscribers around the globe. Communications Minister Ayoob Kara attended the event.