‘Israel must wake up; development of Negev is real future of Israel’

“The country needs to wake up and understand once and for all that the development of the Negev is the real future of the State of Israel,” chairman of the Lauder Center in Israel Avi Bleshnikov, said on Wednesday at the Lauder Center for the Promotion of Employment in the Negev and the Galilee’s fifth annual employers’ conference.

The conference, founded by Ronald Lauder and the Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA), and in cooperation with the southern branch of the Manufacturers Association of Israel, hosted dozens of representatives from industrial companies, public bodies, security organizations, and leading companies.

As part of the conference, short TED-style talks were given by lawyer Chen Avitan, Soroka Human Resources Director Ella Amouyal, Cafrit’s Einav Tsafani, and Dell hi-tech park development director Maya Hoffman Levy.

“The last year was unlike any previous year for employment in the Negev,” explained Keren Cohen, director of the Lauder Center on behalf of JNF-USA. “The challenges we faced before the war, such as a lack of engineers on the one hand and difficulty for young academics to find entry-level jobs in the industry on the other hand, were joined by challenges that we hadn’t known.

“Many Israelis are being evacuated from their homes and are required to reinvent themselves in the employment arena, while many companies and businesses are still dealing with the economic consequences of the war,” she continued.

Avraham Maimon, chairman of the southern branch of the Manufacturers Association of Israel, agreed with Cohen, adding that “the challenge is greater this year.”

He explained, “This is a war like no other, with many economic difficulties and social upheavals, and yet, in these moments and especially today, more than ever, we witness that employment resilience is the engine for growth."

“Only realizing the vision of people like David Ben-Gurion and Ronald Lauder will bring about a real change in the Negev," Bleshnikov said.

JNF-USA headquarters chief Tali Tzur said that the fund has “always set [itself] the goal of developing employment in the southern and northern suburbs while strengthening the personal and social resilience of the residents of these areas."

The Lauder Center and the southern branch of the Manufacturers Association of Israel work closely together and regularly promote high-quality employment solutions for academics in the Negev.

Discussing challenges and innovative solutions

As part of its efforts to promote the Negev, the Lauder Center, JNF-USA, and the southern branch of the Manufacturers Association of Israel hold a large conference for employers in the region every year. 

At the conference, the participants discuss recruitment challenges and present innovative solutions to attract more quality workers to the Negev and turn the area into a prosperous industrial center.