Please join our next educational conference call briefing with Mr. Habib Hazzan and Mr. Jimmy Levy, Managing General Partners and Co-Founders of Al-Bawader, on April 21, 12:00 - 12:40pm Eastern Daylight Time. Mr. Hazzan and Mr. Levy will discuss the first ever Israeli Government Fund for Private Investment in Israeli Arab Business.

All are welcome to join this call. Please extend this invitation to your colleagues and constituencies. Feel free to post these opportunities in your organizational announcements, newsletters and on your website. Past educational conference call briefings are posted in the Task Force's audio library. To listen to all past calls, click here.

Call-In Information:

• US and Canada - (866) 794-4960
  Passcode: 738 770
• Outside the US and Canada - (630) 299-0025
  Passcode: 738 770

RSVP to Hillary Bailey at Hillary.Bailey@jdcny.org or (212) 885-0825

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This Investment Fund for the Arab Sector, which was decided upon during the tenure of Prime Minister Olmert, was launched in March and is the first-ever governmental initiative to enhance private investments in Arab businesses. It is funded half through the government and half through a group of investors, which won the governmental tender. The investors group is lead by Pitango, Israel's largest venture capital fund and headed by Chemi Peres. Al-Bawader, backed by Pitango Venture Capital, was awarded a government tender of 80 million shekels and has raised a total of 177 million shekels ($50M). Al-Bawader is investing in Arab owned technology companies as well as manufacturing and service companies.

Speaker Bios

Mr. Habib Hazzan is the Managing General Partner and Co-Founder of Al-Bawader, the first ever investment fund targeting the Arab private sector in Israel. Mr. Hazzan previously served for three years as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co. Over a 13 year period, Mr. Hazzan has also held numerous consulting and strategic management positions in Israel, the Palestinian Territories and worldwide with companies such as Elias Khoury - Law Offices, IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Adam Smith International. Mr. Hazzan holds an LL.B. and LL.M. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MBA from Emory University in the USA where he received a Fulbright Scholarship. Mr. Hazzan has been a member of the Israeli Bar since 1996. Mr. Hazzan is the Co-Chair of Kav Mashve (Employers' Coalition for Equality for Arab University Graduates in Israel) and serves on the board of the Palestinian Al -Mustakbal Foundation for Strategic and Policy Studies.

Mr. Jimmy Levy is the Managing General Partner and Co-Founder of Al-Bawader, the first ever investment fund targeting the Arab private sector in Israel. Jimmy is also the founder of Galil Software, the largest high tech company in the Arab private sector. Mr. Levy was formerly an executive at Comverse, a leading Israeli software company, and previously practiced corporate and commercial law for more than 10 years. Mr. Levy earned his BA from McGill University, his LLB from Osgoode Hall in Toronto, his PhD from Clark University in Worcester, MA, and his MBA from the Tel Aviv International School of Management. He lives in Israel with his wife Caitlin and their four children.