As presentations began here in Paris during the 32nd annual dinner of the Chambre de Commerce France Israel, the CCFI, it was patently obvious that, especially during wartime, we cannot take the politics out of business, nor the business out of politics, certainly not in the Middle East.
"The ceasefire with the Hezbollah is important to remove the threat of terrorism, and not just on paper," CCFI President Henri Cukierman told some 300 guests in the prestigious Pré Catalan dining complex, nestled among trees in the Bois de Boulogne park. "And now in Gaza, Hamas figures say they want to negotiate, while Iran has been weakened and is afraid of Trump, though it is tough to say what he will do. All of this means that the dynamics of business exchanges with Israel are looking up."
Cukierman had strong words for certain major French companies, saying, "They have faced heavy criticism by pro-Palestinian groups here for their activity in and with Israel, and in some cases have given in to their demands." He cited supermarket giant Carrefour, which pulled its products out of stores in West Bank settlements.
(At the same time, in response to calls in neighboring Jordan to boycott Carrefour because of its presence in Israel, the French retail giant announced in early November that it would be closing its stores in the Hashemite Kingdom…."Globes", November 4)
And there are the never-ending attacks by populist leader of the strong leftist LFI party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and by its elected parliamentarians, who went so far as to wave Palestinian flags during National Assembly sessions.
"The best way to counter all this criticism is, more than ever, to strengthen economic ties between France and Israel," he told guests, "to continue to offer French companies a close look at innovative Israeli products."
Then four French companies received trophies for development of trade with Israel: Altavia, a world leader in retail marketing services, which opened a branch in Tel Aviv in June of this year; the GKA law firm (Grinal, Klugman, Aumont), which, with help from the CCFI, represented several Israeli companies, including Israel Shipyards, in legal action taken Sogena, the organizer of the EuroNaval business salon, for banning Israeli businesses; Michel Remon and Associates, an architecture firm that designed and built a magnificent building on the University of Tel Aviv campus; and the Sienna venture capital firm.
Guest speaker and active Israel supporter Maurice Lévy made an emotional appeal. The chairman of the board of global advertising giant Publicis, and the founder of the largest high tech salon in Europe, Vivatech, told the attentive gathering, "The western world expressed sympathy for Israel on October 7-8, but the turnaround was spectacular. I want to express my gratitude to those French businesses that continue to support Israel in the face of all the protests against it and against them."
Noting that the plight of the Israeli hostages does not seem to move anyone, he continued, "I am not insensitive to the bombing and the destruction in Gaza, but working with established Israeli businesses and start-ups contributes to Israel’s survival. And French companies are double winners. You win on the investment level, and on the personal, more intimate level, in your hearts, because you are doing something righteous."
Did the French word for righteous, "juste", ring any bells? I did not ask anyone. "Les justes" were non-Jews in countries throughout Europe who hid and saved Jews during World War II, and have since been recognized for their valor by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Some two thirds of French Jews were thus saved from the Nazi onslaught.
At my table, French resident of Tel Aviv Valerie Zarka had a number of sharp remarks about technology exchanges. She founded More Than Digital in 2015, bringing French companies to Israel to expose them to the innovative technology of startups in a range of fields, from managing personnel and retail sales, to safety and cyber protection.
"Sometimes their jaws drop when they see the innovation, but the transfer of technology is not always easy," she told Globes. "Sometimes I group together the startups at accelerators, or we visit them one by one. Either way, the startup world is pushy, while the French companies are slow and heavy. They often don’t want to be the first to buy certain software, or to take innovation risks."
She had my attention, to say the least. "How many times were the French companies the first to see certain startups and their innovative technologies, and then it was American giants who bought either the software or the start-ups themselves," she continued.
Did she have examples? Oh yes!! There was Nutrino, a virtual personal nutritionist start-up, first shown to French retail giant Carrefour at Vivatech in 2017, then purchased by Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Medtronic in November 2019, an exit worth $100 million. Then there was Datorama, in the field of marketing data analytics, first shown to weather giant Meteo France in September 2015, and purchased by Salesforce in July 2018 for $850 million. And there was the most publicized of all, Mobileye, first seen by French oil giant Total in March 2016, bought by Intel a year later for a whopping $15.3 billion, a record exit.
And now? "I want to make Israeli startups shine without a thought for politics or religion, but since the war began in Gaza, the startups have suffered," she told me. "Many foreign companies, including from France, are facing obstacles to visiting Israel."
CCFI President Cukierman explained in detail. "The problem is linked to corporate insurance policies that refuse to cover visits to war zones," he told me. "Small companies can do what they want, but for major companies, it is very complicated. It is not a legal issue, but rather is about administrative red tape."
Cukierman also noted that, even before the war, France was ranked 11th or 12th in trade with Israel, far behind Great Britain and Germany among European countries, whereas in overall global trade it ranks 5th or 6th. He and I have been discussing this subject for years without pinpointing any reasons why this is the case.
Eight of the ten people at my table, all French, believed that the recent arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, the ICC, for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former defense minister Gallant were due to antisemitism. Even Israeli opposition figures thought the same. I disagreed, but not wanting to let my personal politics interfere, I asked Henri Cukierman and Maurice Lévy what they thought.
They agreed with me. Lévy said, "The ICC arrest warrants are anti-Israeli and fundamentally unfair, but not antisemitic," while Cukierman told me, "The arrest warrants are proof of cowardice by the ICC, but not based on antisemitism."
And then a piece of news…with longtime organizer Dominique Bourra, the CCFI will be holding its annual CYFI forum on March 31st, 2025, bringing Israeli startups to Paris. The focus has been expanded to cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology breakthroughs. This is indeed "one step beyond".
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 2, 2024.
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