Medved: How Israel and Gulf economies can do the 'business of peace'

• Published date: 07 January 2021
• Date: 07 January 2021
• Author: SETH J. FRANTZMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The event, in partnership with Sharaka, a group that promotes coexistence in the wake of the Abraham Accords, discussed the "Business of Peace" and looked at new Israel relations with the United Arab Emirates. The event was the latest to underpin the excitement in the Gulf and Israel for the new peace deals. They have been cemented along with new normalization agreements with Morocco and Sudan, as well the end of the Gulf crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Medved said that the really important business that is going to be done in the future with the Gulf and others is about gaining trust and building a long-lasting relationship. While Israelis and Emiratis are moving fast, the need to deepen the partnerships that are developing is important.

He noted that he is building human and corporate relationships. Binali, who agreed with these notions, is the Gulf partner for Our Crowd. Medved is a serial entrepreneur and, according to The Washington Post, "one of Israel's leading high tech venture capitalists."

Medved looked back with fond memories to a trip to Abu Dhabi in 2019 when he was invited to speak at an investment conference sponsored by a sovereign wealth fund and he noted that the Gulf was already open to Israel at that time.

People in the UAE wanted to hear about Israel. "We saw this coming," he says. In the past, companies he has worked with have had partners in the Gulf. He praised the leadership on both sides and the help of the US for making this peace deal come to fruition.

OurCrowd was started in 2013 and says it was "driven by the idea that the business of building startups grows bigger and better when the global 'crowd' gains access to VC-level investment opportunities." Today, OurCrowd is a global venture investing platform that "empowers institutions and individuals to invest and engage in emerging companies," the group says.

Israeli and Emirati businesses have had contacts in the past in other places in the world, but the peace deal has now made partnerships more straightforward.

Arsen Ostrovsky, an international human rights lawyer, moderated the discussion and asked the questions. Binali said the recent normalization deal is a positive development and he is happy to have...