Stef Wertheimer

Stef Wertheimer (; 16 July 1926 – 26 March 2025) was an Israeli billionaire industrialist, investor, philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Knesset, and was known for founding industrial parks in Israel and neighboring countries. In 2013, the Wertheimers were described as Israel's richest family.

Early life and education Stefan "Stef" (Ze'ev) Wertheimer was born in Kippenheim, Germany, to a Jewish family. His father was a World War I veteran and had lost a leg. The family emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1937 to escape Nazism. He was arrested by the British during Operation Agatha in 1946 and was detained for four months. In 1947, he began working in the development and improvement of cannons for the Haganah. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he served as a technical officer in the Yiftach Brigade.

Following the war, Wertheimer and his wife briefly lived on kibbutz Yir'on. They left as he did not agree with the socialist economic model adopted by the kibbutz movement. He worked at Israel Military Industries and then at Rafael. In 1952, he was dismissed from his job at Rafael as he lacked a formal engineering degree, which led him to start his own business.

Business career

In 1952, Wertheimer started his own business in a shack adjacent to his home in Nahariya, a small metal shop and tool-making company called ISCAR. The company quickly became a success and attracted the interest of Discount Investments, who later became a minority investor in the company. Initially it was a supplier to the Israeli defense industry, which was sufficient to provide for his family, but Wertheimer realized that local demand was limited. While Israeli entrepreneurs tended to shy away from foreign markets at the time, Wertheimer recognized that the greatest opportunities were abroad and established relationships with foreign clients. Over time, the company grew from his small workshop into a large multinational manufacturing enterprise. ISCAR branches exist in dozens of countries worldwide and the company employs over 5,000 people.

In 1968, as part of Israeli efforts to overcome the French weapons embargo after the Six-Day War, Wertheimer founded ISCAR Blades, which later became Blades Technology – one of the largest manufacturers of blades and vanes for jet engines and industrial gas turbines. Wertheimer sold his 51% stake in Blades Technology in 2014 to jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney for an undisclosed amount. In May 2013 Buffett bought the rest of Iscar for $2.05 billion.

At the time of his death, Forbes estimated Wertheimer's net worth at US$7.6 billion.

Industrial parks Wertheimer founded seven industrial parks – in Tefen, Tel Hai, Dalton, Lavon and now Nazareth in the Galilee; in Omer in the Negev; and another in Gebze, Kocaeli, Turkey. Each is based on five principles: exports, education, coexistence, community and culture, with the goal of fostering economic growth and job creation to help create stability in the region. As Wertheimer has explained, "The idea of industrial parks in the Middle East and on the borders between Israel and its neighbors is that the parks will bring industry and provide jobs, which will keep people busy working, instead of engaging in terrorism."

Wertheimer's model park is the Tefen Industrial Park. Built in 1982, it encompasses everything from transportation to cultural and educational facilities. Wertheimer's industrial park in the mixed Muslim-Christian Arab city of Nazareth, where Jews and Arabs work side by side, opened in April 2013. Wertheimer and Nazareth Mayor Ramez Jeraisy explained that the industrial park is part of a unique model to promote the advancement of Arab-Jewish Israeli export companies. During his visit to Israel in 2009, Pope Benedict had met with both men at the site of the future park and gave his blessing to the project. Wertheimer has said, "Coexistence in the industrial park in Arab Nazareth is a good example of coexistence. When people work together, they have no time for nonsense. They're too tired at night to commit terrorist acts. They're satisfied, they engage in producing. They work together, not against each other."

Prior to the 2013 elections, he took the honorary final slot on Tzipi Livni's new list, Hatnuah. He endorsed her alliance with Labor, the Zionist Union, in 2015.

Peace efforts Wertheimer promoted the idea of a "Marshall Plan for the Middle East" – his concept for using industry to provide training, create jobs, alleviate poverty and raise the per capita income of those living in the Middle East.

In the 1990s, he drew up plans for an industrial park in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian and the Israeli governments both offered support, but one week before the groundbreaking ceremony, the Second Intifada broke out and that plan was indefinitely shelved.

In 2002, he testified before the United States House of Representatives about a "new Marshall Plan" that advocates U.S. funding to revitalize the Middle East through a sustained effort to promote commerce, jobs, and a free economy in the region.

Wertheimer's vision included building an additional 100 industrial parks that will employ Israelis and Palestinians. Wertheimer wasn't confining his idea to Israel though, and had plans underway in Turkey and Jordan. In 2006 he was honored as one of the torchbearers in the national Israeli Independence Day ceremony. In 2008, he received the Buber-Rosenzweig-Medal. He received the Oslo Business for Peace Award in 2010, which is given to leaders in the private sector who have demonstrated transformative and positive change through ethical business practices. In 2014, he received the President's Medal.

Personal life Wertheimer was married with four children and lived in Tel Aviv. His granddaughter is the Israeli actress Maya Wertheimer. In 2018, his son, , purchased a house for him near Kikar Hamedina in Tel Aviv for 20 million ILS.

On 26 March 2025, Wertheimer died at the age of 98.