A Diverse Look at Israel’s Post-Pandemic Economy
Technion Webinar
With Special Guests David Horovitz, Dr. Irit Idan, and Prof. Uri Sivan
When and how will the economy bounce back? As nations eased the shelter-in-place orders enacted to save lives, they were faced with solving a mounting economic crisis. Israel is no exception, as its economy was severely damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Policy makers had to deal with an economy that saw at least 25,000 Israeli businesses shuttered, a spike in unemployment to nearly 25% from 4%, and a 6% fall in Israel’s Gross Domestic Product, a scorecard of a country’s economic health. This was a stark turnaround from 2019, a record-breaking year for Israel’s economy in tourism, exports, and mergers and acquisitions.
This Technion panel discussion on how Israel planned to restart its economy, featured perspectives from the media, industry, and academia. David Horovitz, founding editor of The Times of Israel, let us in on the prevailing views of Israeli media. Technion alumna Dr. Irit Idan ’94 talked about her work at RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems, transforming existing technologies into medical applications in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. And Technion President Uri Sivan shared the university’s strategic plan as it relates to jumpstarting Israel’s economy.
The webinar was co-hosted with the Technion UK and moderated by Scott Leemaster, a former national president of the American Technion Society and current chairman of the Technion Board of Governors. Paul Charney, Chairman of Technion UK, gave closing remarks.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
David Horovitz is the founding editor of The Times of Israel. Launched in 2012, The Times of Israel, which publishes in English, French, Arabic and Persian, is the fastest-growing current affairs website in Israel and the Jewish world. Last year, it also launched a Hebrew site, Zman Yisrael.
Dr. Irit Idan is the CEO of Idan Technology Insights Ltd, and the former executive vice president for research and development at RAFAEL, Israel’s third largest defense company, and a pioneer of its technological accelerator Teradion. She received her Ph.D. in astrophysics from the Technion Faculty of Physics and is a member of the Technion Council and the Technion Board of Governors.
Professor Uri Sivan is the president of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and a renowned physicist with expertise in nanotechnology. He was the founding director of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion, and co-creator of a Nano Bible that is housed in the Smithsonian Libraries.
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