The Right Call

David Rubner, the driving force behind ECI Telecom, left a
promising career in the United States in 1968 to lend a hand to
Israel's emerging electronics industry.

ALLISON KAPLAN SOMMER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

D

avid Rubner, a Westing-
house engineer with a
promising future, stunned
his boss in 1968 when he
announced he was leaving the
company.
Mr. Rubner explained that, al-
though he enjoyed his work in
computer research at the Pitts-
burgh facility, he and his family
were committed to building a life
in Israel and he felt strongly
about making a contribution to
Israel's fledgling electronics in-
dustry.
"My boss was not happy to
hear this because I was quite a
successful engineer," recalls Mr.
Rubner. "He told me not to go to
Israel. I said to him, `I'm Jewish,
and I need to contribute to Israel's
welfare, to Israel's industry — my
motivations are Zionist ones.' "
Mr. Rubner's boss came back
at him with what seemed like a
logical offer: "Let's make a deal.
I'll raise your salary in such a way
that you can contribute $500 a
month to Israel. You go to the Is-
raeli ambassador and ask him
what would be more important:
For you to contribute $500 a
month or for you to go to Israel."
Mr. Rubner, president and
chief executive officer of ECI Tele-
com of Israel, can't help smiling
\__, at the memory.
He is still friendly with his ex-
boss, who now concedes that Mr.
Rubner made the right decision
by turning down the offer. Mr.
Rubner's contribution to Israeli
industry has been worth sub-
stantially more than $500 a
month.
For the past 26 years, Mr. Rub-
ner has been an integral part of
the company which is often cited
as one of Israel's most outstand-
ing high-tech success stories.
During those years, the corn-
pany has grown from 60 employ-
ees to 2,300 employees
worldwide.
The 1,700 Israeli employees
are headquartered in a large, im-
pressive facility in Petach Tikva's
industrial zone. Built only a year
ago, the building is already being
expanded. The sound of renova-
tions can be heard from Mr. Rub-
ner's executive suite.

1

A pleasant, low-key man who
sports a shock of prematurely
white hair — he is 55 years old
— and a blue knitted kippah, Mr.
Rubner was born in Budapest,
Hungary, in 1940.
When he was 16, in the midst
of the 1956 revolution, his fami-
ly fled the country, crossing the
still-open border to Austria "with
Russian soldiers shooting all
around us."
The family settled in London,
where his 87-year-old mother and
his brother, a doctor, still live to-
day. Mr. Rubner studied engi-
neering and met his wife, Zehava,
an Israeli who was studying Eng-
lish in preparation for a teaching
career, at Queen Mary College at
the University of London.
He came to Israel for the first
time as a 22-year-old bridegroom.
"I was very young, I was very
much in love, and I came to get
married so everything looked
beautiful," he said. "I was very

In 26 years, ECI
Telecom has grown
from 60 to 2,300
employees.

impressed with the motivation of
the people and the way they
talked about their country.
"At that time, I had already
made an agreement with my wife
that we would go to the United
States for two years and then we
would settle in Israel."
Mr. Rubner was recruited by
Westinghouse — he was part of
the "brain drain" from Britain to
the United States.
The couple moved to Pitts-
burgh, where the company's re-
search laboratories were located,
and Mr. Rubner became involved
in the research and developmen
of computers, notably in the de-
velopment of the first small in-
dustrial-control computer.
Two years in the United States
stretched to six, during which
time Mr. Rubner acquired ad-
vanced degrees from Carnegie-
Mellon University. The push to
finally honor his agreement with

Zehava came in 1967.
"After the Six-Day War, we de-
cided there was no way we could
remain in the United States, and
that we should come to Israel,"
Mr. Rubner said.
So the Rubners and their three
small children made their way to
the Jewish state.
After several job interviews,
Mr. Rubner decided to join Elec-
tra, a company specializing in
consumer-oriented electric ap-
pliances.
Electra's president at the time
was Chaim Herzog, who went on
to become the country's president.
Mr. Rubner's mandate was to
set up an electronics department
within the company, a task he
found impossible.
"The mentality was not right.
They were more interested in el-
evators and air conditioners and
instant profits" than in innova-
tion in new electronics products,
Mr. Rubner says.
After a year, Mr. Rubner went
to Mr. Herzog and told him he
had decided to leave Electra and
join Elron.
Mr. Herzog immediately asked
Mr. Rubner what he needed to do
in order to successfully branch
into electronics.
Mr. Rubner told him that a
separate electronics company had
to be formed. That company
should concentrate on the mili-
tary field, and a retired army of-
ficer should be hired to head the
company.
Mr. Rubner says it was not
modesty that kept him from sug-
gesting himself as president, "but
the fact that, as a new immigrant,
I didn't really have the proper
perspective. And it was impor-
tant to have somebody with an
army background ... I was very
realistic."
To his surprise, Mr. Herzog
took his advice. He created Elec-
tra Electronics in 1970 and
brought in retired officer Uri
Goren as its president.
Soon afterwards, Electra Elec-
tronics acquired ECI, a small
commercial radio and television
receiver company that had a few
military projects as well.
RIGHT CALL page 56

ISRAEL DIGEST

Compiled by Steve Stein from Jerusalem Post reports

— $1 EQUALS 2.9830 NIS (shekels) - Close Price 31205 —

Israel's Agricultural Exports Grow

Israel's agriculture exports to
Europe have increased. During
a recent week, Agrexco export-
ed 45 million flowers and 1,000
tons of vegetables, fresh spices,
house plants and general prod-
ucts to Europe and the United
States.
From October 1994 to Feb-

ruary 1995, Agrexco's exports
to Russia increased to $4.8 mil-
lion from $2.8 million in the cor-
responding 1993-94 period.
Flower exports totaled $2.1
million, citrus exports $1.5 mil-
lion and vegetable exports
$400,0000.

Some Facts About A Fax Deal

Clalcom, a subsidiary of Clal founded in 1992 to operate in
Industries of Israel, and the the Israeli and international
Japan-based Nippon Seiki have telecommunications field.
established a joint venture com-
Nippon Seiki is active in the
pany which will provide fac- telecommunications field, elec-
simile communication services tronics and the manufacture of
in Kanagawa, Japan.
automobile components. The
Clal said the partnership is company ended 1993 with an-
in the framework of its global nual sales of more than $1 bil-
expansion plans. Clalcom was lion.

HP President Jets Into Israel

Hewlett Packard (HP) Presi-
dent Lewis Platt was in Israel
recently to look at business op-
portunities.
Mr. Platt met with Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Fi-

nance Minister Avraham
Shohat and Industry and
Trade Minister Micha Harish.
He also met with business lead-
ers and visited Israeli high-tech
industries.

Diamant Toys With Its Plant

Diamant Toys announced it
will invest $500,000 to expand
its Ashdod, Israel, plant.
The company — which sup-
plies chain stores such as Aus-

tralia's Toy World and Target,
Toys `R' Us in South Africa and
others — said it expects annu-
al output to increase by 35 per-
cent.

Rabin: Privatization Is A Must

Privatization must continue,
whether or not it is comfortable
for the workers at government
companies, Israel Prime Min-
ister Yitzhak Rabin told a
meeting of the Labor faction.
Mr. Rabin said the govern-
ment has invested some NIS
20-30 billion in government
companies.
"Shouldn't those billions be
invested in social goals in-
stead?" he demanded. "All the

government companies are fi-
nanced by the taxpayer ... Is
this where that money should
be invested?"
The fact that Israeli banks
are still state-owned particu-
larly troubles Mr. Rabin.
"In how many countries to-
day does the government still
own the banks?" he asked.
"This isn't the case even in the
(former) Soviet Union."

Ormat Isn't Out Of Gas

Israeli firm Ormat has received
orders from multinationals
Siemens and General Electric
for gas turbine equipment to be
installed in the Israel Electric
Corporation's new power sta-
tions.

GE has placed a $750,000
order for the Hagit power sta-
tion and Siemens has placed an
$8 million order for exhaust
systems for the Gezer power
station.