Stef Wertheimer, Israeli business mogul and advocate for Arab-Jewish peace, dies at 98

In 2006, Wertheimer sold 80 per cent of the company to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $4 billion. Seven years later, Buffett acquired the remaining shares for $2 billion, cementing Wertheimer’s place as one of Israel’s wealthiest citizens.

“I made my money in Iscar,” Wertheimer later said, “I spend my money on industrial parks.” He used his fortune to build seven industrial parks, six in Israel and one in Turkey, aimed at creating jobs and fostering economic growth in underdeveloped and often politically unstable areas.

His flagship project, Tefen Industrial Park in the Galilee, became the headquarters for Iscar, with other parks established in Nazareth and the Negev desert.

In the 1990s he advanced the idea of an industrial park at Rafah in the Gaza Strip, but the “second intifada” put paid to the scheme.

Wertheimer’s initiatives were driven by a belief that "an era in which production, exports, education, and an advanced quality of life can replace terrorism and poverty" was possible.

His work garnered support from Israeli politicians and US policymakers, who recognised his vision for transforming conflict zones into hubs of prosperity.

Born on July 16, 1926, in Kippenheim, Germany, Wertheimer fled the Nazi regime with his family in 1937, settling in Mandatory Palestine.

After studying at the Tel-Nordau school in Tel Aviv, he worked at a camera store before volunteering for the Royal Air Force in 1943, serving as a technician for optical equipment.

He later joined the Palmach, the elite strike force of the Haganah, during the period leading up to Israel’s founding in 1948.

Wertheimer’s experiences during Israel's struggle for independence shaped his dedication to the country's future.

In 1946, he was one of 2,700 people arrested during Operation Agatha, a British crackdown on Jewish insurgency, but after four months in detention, he resumed his work in the Haganah and became involved in weapons development during the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In 1952, Wertheimer and his wife, Miriam, founded Iscar in a small shed behind their home in Nahariya.

He went on to establish Blades Technology, a manufacturer of jet-engine parts, in 1968, responding to a French arms embargo on Israel after the 1967 Six Day War. Blades was sold to the US aero engine maker Pratt & Whitney in 2014. This too contributed to his fortune.

On  March 5 2021, Forbes listed Wertheimer's net worth at US$6.2 billion, ranking him 216 on the Billionaires 2020 list.

Wertheimer served as a member of the Knesset from 1977 to 1981. He initially represented the short-lived centrist alliance, the Democratic Movement for Change, and later joined Shinui, one of its constituent parties.

He was awarded the Israel Prize in 1991 for his contributions to society, received the Oslo Business for Peace award in 2010, and was honoured with Israel’s Presidential Medal of Honour in 2014.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to Wertheimer, calling him “one of those who built the country” and praising his industrial accomplishments as “Zionist endeavours in every respect.”

Wertheimer’s first wife, Miriam, with whom he had four children, died in 1989. He later married Yael Shilo, but the marriage ended in divorce.

His elder son, Eitan, who worked alongside him at Iscar and was deeply involved in educational philanthropy, died in 2022 at the age of 70. Wertheimer is survived by his son Yiftah and daughters Ruth and Irit.

Stef Wertheimer, born July 16, 1926, died March 26, 2025.