From hummus to high-tech: Israel CEOs seek ‘friends’, deals in UAE

If you had asked Israeli businessman Yehonatan Ben Hamozeg earlier this year where he’d be pitching his palm tree saving technology in October, there was no chance he would have said the UAE.

But after a US-backed normalisation agreement between the UAE and Israel, the soft-spoken, grey-haired entrepreneur found himself doing just that in a Dubai hotel last week.

Ben Hamozeg is the founder and chief executive of Agrint, a company that uses seismic sensors to detect insects that eat — and destroy — palm trees from the inside.

He was one of the 13 business leaders who joined a four-day trip to the UAE organised by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), a venture capitalist firm.

After the deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election on Tuesday, links are poised to expand.

“We’re learning, we’re opening our eyes, friendships and personal ties are being formed,” said JVP founder Erel Margalit, who led the Israeli delegation.

Charismatic and gregarious, Margalit is one of Israel’s top venture capitalists, having backed more than 150 technology startups.

He insisted the UAE’s potential for Israel’s economy is vast, both in terms of direct partnerships in the financial, tech and food sectors, but also as a portal to Arab markets still cut off from the Jewish state.

“Israel can now work with the region rather than being closed to it. For us, it’s a huge opportunity,” he said.

“We want to use this breakthrough to start a new chapter in the region.”

A Palestinian businessman from east Jerusalem and a desert crop expert travelled alongside the 13 CEOs, and were key players in setting up the meetings.

The group was mixed openly with Emirati business leaders and government officials at a posh hotel in Dubai’s financial district and across the city.

Alongside networking events — some complicated by coronavirus restrictions — the delegates held private meetings with potential partners, with sight-seeing sprinkled between events.

Mohamad Mandeel, chief operating officer of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Strategic Partners, cited a high-protein chickpea powder made by Israeli firm InnovoPro to illustrate the potential for regional cooperation.

“If I bring a Dutch company and tell them hummus, they’d say - what the hell is this,” Mandeel, who wore the traditional white Emirati robe, said using the Arabic word for chickpeas.

Israeli firms, he said, could make strong partners because they understand the Middle East, including the quest for food security in an often challenging agricultural environment.

They could also be a bridge to peace between the nations.

“I always believe that the economy will drive politics,” he said. “So you move the economy and things will come after positively.”

“We came here to make friends; business will follow,” she said. “We’re not worried.”