Joshua Matza, Israel Bonds
head, and New York State
comptroller Carl
McCall. |
ISRAEL BONDS
Children Bond With Parents
By Investing in Israeli Economy
Story By Tim Boxer
Photos by Steve Friedman
 RCHIE?
What kind of name is that for a woman? As Jerome Gottesman,
chairman of Edison Properties, presented the Israel Bonds Builder of
Israel Award to his daughter Archie, his company’s
executive vice president, he explained the name game.
“My wife Paula and I agree on many
things, but we couldn’t agree on a name for our second child. We
used to call Paula’s tummy Archie, so even though we got a baby
girl, the name stuck.”
Archie, who was honored at an Israel Bonds real
estate luncheon at the New York Hilton, said she experienced quite a
shock one day in Hebrew school when she saw a picture of a little
boy with his hands in the air, being taken away by the Nazis.
“You were here, grandpa,” she said. “What
did you do during the Holocaust?”
“We didn’t know what was happening,” he
answered.
Grandpa’s sad eyes met his granddaughter’s
enquiring eyes, and he sighed: “We should have done more. We did
not do enough.”
Jerome Gottesman (l-r) and daughter
Archie
Gottesman with
Roger A. Silverstein and father
Larry A. Silverstein.
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Another father, real estate megastar Larry
Silverstein, who owned the World Trade Center, presented a
Builder of Israel Award to his son, Roger, senior vice
president of Silverstein Properties.
Larry recalled a solidarity mission when Yitzhak
Shamir took Roger aside and told him, “We need housing here,
now. Tell your father.”
“I can say no to the prime minister,” Larry
said, “but I can’t say no to my son.”
Carl McCall told the 400 luncheon guests
that when he became New York state comptroller eight years ago, he
was surprised to learn that not one of his predecessors had ever
purchased Israel Bonds. “Yet it’s such a good investment.”
McCall
announced a third purchase of $10 million in Israel Bonds from the
New York State Common Retirement Fund, which has $112 billion. The
fund now holds $78 million in Israel Bonds and other Israeli
securities.
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