Tel-Hai Magazine 2022

The Board of Trustees welcomes its new Chair: an interview with Zeev Feldman In an interview shortly after he took up his new role as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Tel-Hai College, Zeev Feldman talks of his viewpoint on assisting the college achieve its goals, and of his personal interest in education and in contributing to the development of the region.

with support for the rehabilitation cen ter in Mevo’ot HaHermon. I was also the first business partner in MIGAL, together with Meir Shamir and David Forer, 20 years ago. I really enjoy the at mosphere and the sense of purpose here - and the natural beauty in this area is inspiring.” “The key to promoting the college and to boosting activity is funding” As a former member of the executive committee of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Col lege, and a member of the Friends of Tel Aviv University, Feldman is aware of the difference he will face at Tel Hai, in terms of fundraising potential. “Donating to an academic institution in the center of the country is almost a default choice for many donors ; here it will be more challenging, but I find that much more interesting. As trustees, our main objective is to strengthen the col lege and expand connections. The key to promoting the college and to boost ing activity is funding, and that’s where I intend to invest my efforts. I welcome any member of the board who can help with this mission. Furthermore, I would like to expand the board, and broaden its diversity, including foreign members, which is a direction that I’m examining.”

Feldman brings with him a wealth of experience. He worked for many years at the Ministry of Finance, has been very active in the philanthropic sphere, volunteered in academia, and has man aged family offices. He is renowned for his active approach, his informal style, and the close relationship he builds with his clients. Feldman arrives with great enthusiasm. He says he enjoys working with people and connecting between them, and gains great satisfaction from seeing resources enable the creation of new opportunities and bring about pos itive change. Feldman was born in Jerusalem in 1951, to parents who were Holocaust survi vors. He grew up in Moshav Batzra, served in the IDF as an officer in the artillery corps, and later, during his re serve duty, he served as a battalion com mander in parallel to his work in the civil service. He now splits his time be tween his family home in Tel Aviv and his home in Har Eliezer, near Tel-Hai. He is married with a daughter and an adopted son, whom he met in the course of his philanthropic work. He has two grandchildren. For almost twenty years, Feldman served as deputy director of the Tax Authority and, concurrently, over the course of a

decade he lectured in the fields of eco nomics and accounting at a university in the center of the country. After leaving the civil service some twenty years ago, Feldman entered the private sector and became a partner in a large accountancy firm in Tel Aviv. Later, he served as the General Manager of the parent com pany of the First International Bank of Israel, following which he opened a pri vate practice, establishing family offices for families that have a deep connection with Israel. “There’s a consensus regarding the college, and a common sense of pur pose in the region” When asked why he decided to take this new role upon himself, so distant from the center of the country, Feldman’s an swer was immediate: “I am very happy to be here. There’s a lot to be done here and I like the fact that, where the college is concerned, there’s a consensus, whereas, in the rest of the country, many things are argued about. I’ve been active in the Galilee for many years now, through my business activities in the past, and through the philanthropic activity of the family of fices I manage. I’m involved with the do nations to The Agamon Hula-JNF, and

Tel-Hai Magazaine | 2022

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