From vision to reality: The Gutwirth family and the Allied Group - opinion

Many have contributed to the Zionist dream. Some are known more in the Israeli ethos, while others made their contribution far from the public eye. Among the humble contributors one can find Holocaust survivors Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth, who eventually settled in Belgium to join the fight for the Zionist vision in the early 1970s.

Aaron Gutwirth was a seasoned businessman who decided to leverage his entire fortune, skills, and connections to realize the Zionist vision. The Gutwirths’ approach to the Zionist vision was revolutionary for its time. It took decades for others around the world to adopt similar attitudes.

The Gutwirths believed that business and community are intertwined, similar to society and the economy. A business can only grow with the help of the community; therefore, the company must give back to the community. Family members can enjoy the fruits of their labor in a way that helps them live with dignity, but the core value of doing business should be allocated to philanthropy and social activism.

Today, one can find many examples of philanthropy and business altruism that stem from the couple’s approach; for example, the Giving Pledge initiative signed by the world’s wealthiest people. The Gutwirths implemented their ideology by bringing their knowledge and connections to Israel and establishing a business holding company called Allied.

Allied’s initiatives promptly brought the Volkswagen franchise to import vehicles to Israel and the establishment of a construction company with land ownership and contracting experience. Around the same time, the couple wrote their will, according to which their businesses would be allocated to a trust fund that would continue to develop the Israeli economy while implementing their ideology of giving back to the community.

The Allied Group was a relatively small business enterprise during the first decades after its establishment. However, the distinctive core that led to Allied’s unique DNA attracted good managers who grew the company and the local economy, thus significantly increasing the waves of influence on the community and the economy.

In parallel, in the 1970s the Gutwirths took their first step in building the infrastructure for the social activism that continues to this day. The first step, in 1972, included setting up the science industry park at the Technion in Haifa. The park’s establishment reflected the vision of connecting academia to the developing science industry.

The Gutwirth family’s vision was groundbreaking for the period and earned the warm blessing of the Israeli government and the finance minister at the time, Pinchas Sapir. The park, still successfully operating today, is home to many initiatives. The lease received from the park is used to distribute research scholarships and grants.

About 50 years ago, the couple took their second step in the journey to social activism with the establishment of the Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Foundation, which became the philanthropic arm of the Allied Group. The foundation assists and encourages social activism for the benefit of society and the community in Israel in the fields of science, culture, education, welfare, art, health, and the like.

The foundation operates in all of Israel’s universities, hospitals, and cultural and welfare establishments. Among its countless activities, the foundation has donated over 15,000 scholarships to students nationwide. In addition to the activities of the Gutwirth Foundation, the Allied Group joined many social initiatives with the encouragement and support of its trustees, such as:

• Establishment of the accountant’s home office named after Joseph Kasierer• Adoption of the maritime center in Sdot Yam named after Haim Rubin• Awarding research scholarships to young researchers in the field of medicine at Tel Aviv University named after Margaret Shtolz• Supporting the Faculty of Law at the College of Management named after Haim Striks• Assistance to the TELEM program encouraging young researchers at Sheba Hospital, named after Nehemiah Rubin• Establishment of the Tikvatenu project, a home for young Jews with special needs across Europe. The activities take place in Antwerp, and are named after Nathan Gutwirth.

Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth were childless. However, they had a substantial extended family, with sons and daughters living in different places across the globe. The extended Gutwirth family joined the cause down the road.Every year since the foundation’s establishment, dozens of Gutwirth family members get together for a week-long visit to Israel, which traditionally ends at the Technion in a celebratory ceremony with many other attendees.

In 1977, three years before Aaron Gutwirth’s demise, the A.G. Trust was established to consolidate and implement the couple’s ideology – developing the Israeli economy while continuing social activism. After the death of Aaron Gutwirth in 1980, five trustees actively managed the trust.

The foundation’s vision and values are expressed in the core of its business operations. The group operates on long-term strategies and tries to neutralize factors that lead to short-term economic thinking.

• Investments are held for an extended period, with almost no realizations.• The investments are made and managed with conservatism and a risk management approach.• Business activities are carried out while maintaining a very low level of leverage.• The financial reporting policy is conservative and includes avoiding accounting plans and revaluations.• The group tries to maintain managerial stability. Most senior managers stay with the group for extended periods. For example, the group has been headed by two chairmen in five decades.The group’s unique organizational culture is the source of its power. Allied’s leadership is proud to put its employees at the center and nurtures a unifying relationship.

No employees were terminated or placed on leave during COVID-19 or the current war. The group is characterized by the tremendous loyalty of over 4,000 employees.For over 50 years, the Allied Group has operated in the spirit of its foundation. The group’s chairman from 1977- 2005, Haim Rubin, one of the founders of Kibbutz Sdot Yam and the Allied founder’s right-hand man, shared the same values and goals: developing Israel’s economy and shaping its values and substance.

In the spirit of its founding fathers, the Allied Group has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. One could say that the foundation and distinctive thinking of the group have proven themselves. The Allied Group began its activity 50 years ago as a small group, but today it is a well-established investment company managing a large number of active companies in real estate, the automotive industry, logistics, infrastructure, technology, and many other areas.

Thanks to this growth, it can create more jobs, bring new services and advanced products that help build the foundation for Israel’s future, promote innovation, and, most importantly, generate more resources for its philanthropic activity.

Yet everything it has accomplished so far is not enough.All those involved in the Allied Group understand that the company has gone through a process of establishing itself in the market far beyond expectations, and now it must give more to the State of Israel and its citizens. In accordance with the founders, and given the needs of the local market and the people of Israel and the group’s strong conviction to influence the country’s development, the trustees and leaders decided to initiate and promote massive national projects that the country needs.

In this context, the first project is the establishment of the School of Medicine at the Weizmann Institute to change the face of medicine in Israel and use the institute’s research infrastructure and databases to change the world of medicine in Israel and the world.

The proposal to establish the School of Medicine at the Weizmann Institute had several motives. First, the Israeli healthcare system is facing a deep crisis that has accelerated in the last year. There is a massive backlog in training new doctors.

Over half of them were trained abroad, at high costs to the market, and in relatively low-quality programs. In parallel, the phenomenon of experienced specialists emigrating to other countries, such as Denmark, New Zealand, and Canada, has increased. The level of medicine in Israel is still considered one of the best in the world and, of course, every effort must be made to preserve it.

Second, when examining the existing system for training doctors (medical schools), it seems that the Weizmann Institute, one of the 10 leading research institutes in the world, was the only leading educational institution in Israel not directly active in the medical field.

The group views the establishment of a medical school, specifically at the Weizmann Institute, as a tremendous achievement based on the quality and research areas that exist at the institute, such as biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science.

Since its foundation, the Weizmann Institute has engraved on its flag the Zionist vision and its contribution to the Israeli economy. A medical school is definitely the proper way to continue this vision. Third, the establishment and operation of the medical school and the connection to different fields, while integrating the many databases the institute has access to, are, in the group’s estimation, a turning point in the development of the health field in Israel and even the world.

Looking to the future, Allied hopes that the process of integrating business entities in development will grow stronger. As far as the Allied Group is concerned, this initiative fits into the spirit and culture of the group as it relates to the company and its employees. They are confident that this initiative will fulfill itself and meet the expectations of the Israeli market.

In such difficult days for the State of Israel, Allied is determined and imbued with faith that in the future, it will lead additional national initiatives to strengthen and develop the Israeli economy in the spirit of the trustees and the Allied Group.

Prof. Itzhak Swary is chairman of the Allied Group.