Benny is the acting Chairman of the dbMotion Board of Directors. Before joining dbMotion Mr. Levin co-founded NICE Systems, a worldwide leader of multimedia digital recording solutions for business interaction management. Mr. Levin served as NICE's CEO and Director from its inception and as Chairman and CEO from February 1998 to 2001. Under Mr. Levin's leadership the company achieved impressive growth and raised significant funds, both on NASDAQ and the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). Prior to founding NICE, Mr. Levin served in the Israel Defense Forces (the “IDF”), where he held various positions in Military Intelligence and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1978, he was awarded the Chief of Intelligence Award for Creative Thinking. Mr. Levin is also Vice-Chairman of the Israel Venture Network (IVN); the IVN strives to promote sustainable social change in Israel. IVN is a network of business executives, corporations and philanthropists in Israel and the United States, bridging gaps in Israel through hands-on venture philanthropy. He holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
Benny has been the spirit behind the trip to Georgia, and thanks to his generosity many features on the trip have become possible.
Benny Levin
Atalia Katz
Atalia Katz is a free lance photojournalist, currently based in Tel Aviv. Traveling in many countries in the last few years, she is documenting special moments, views and realities. Her works were presented in exhibitions in New York. As graduate of Oranim Art education Seminary, she worked with sculptor Danny Zaritzky. In 2008 she established The Place, and alternative medicine sanctuary in Tel Aviv, Israel. She studied photography at Camera Obscura School of Art in Tel Aviv and at the International Center of Photography in New York City. In 2010 she had an exhibition in Manhattan, and on October of that year she had one in Scarsdale NY. Atalia views photography as "another dimension, alongside writing" that provides her the "primary tools for expressing the inner self-the excitement, the exhilaration of creation of every moment".
Naftali (Tali) Idan
Tali Idan is a financial consultant and an experienced chief financial officer (CFO). He currently serves as a director at Lumenis Ltd. Mr. Idan has served as Ceragon Networks Ltd's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 2004 to 2010. Prior to joining Ceragon, from 2000 to 2001 Mr. Idan was Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Floware Wireless Systems Ltd., and from 1993 to 1999 he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. Before joining Tecnomatix, Mr. Idan was with Optrotech Ltd. (now Orbotech Ltd.) from 1985 to 1992, where he held several positions in finance, the last one being Vice President, Finance & Administration of its US subsidiary. Prior to that, Mr. Idan served in various financial roles in both US and Israeli firms. Mr. Idan received a B.A. in Accounting and Economics from Tel Aviv University in Israel, an M.B.A. from De Paul University in Chicago, and is a certified Public Accountant in Israel.
Amir Halevy
Amir Halevy is Senior Partner at the law firm of GKH - Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg & Co. From January 2001 to December 2009, he served as the firm's Managing Partner. Amir has extensive experience in the fields of Technology and Venture Capital.
Amir's community commitment is broad and diverse: He serves on the Board of Directors, and a member of the Executive Committee and heads the Standards and Ethics Committee of the HTIA – the Hi-Tech Industry Association (formerly Israel Venture Association); He is a member of the IVN – Israel Venture Network; He serves on the Board of Directors of JFN-Jewish Funders Network since 2008; He is one of the founders and a board member of "Vehardata" – the National Council for Advancing the Status of the Elderly; Amir leads the firm's diverse array of activities with the community including the partnership with "Matan – Investing in the Community" (an affiliate of the "United Way") with an established and successful volunteer program, involving members of GKH management and staff, at a local center for children from multi-problem homes; and educational and monetary support of "Branco-Weiss - Anna Frank" regional high school, at Kibbutz Sasa which provides facilities for members of the Jewish, Druse and Circassian communities of Northern Israel. GKH also supports and provides pro-bono legal services to Tmura, the Israeli Public Service Venture Fund.
Amir is an 11th generation Jerusalemite, and can trace his family roots in the city back to1732. He is married and has three children.
Yossi Beinart
Yossi Beinart is the president and CEO of Nadex, the North American Derivatives Exchange based in Chicago. Yossi has over 20 years’ executive management and development experience at financial services and technology firms. Prior to joining Nadex (then HedgeStreet), Mr. Beinart served as Director of Technology at IG Group. Before IG, he served as Chief Technology Officer at Portero Inc., where he was responsible for creating the auction system for Portero's luxury goods marketplace. From 2000 to 2004, he was CEO and President of ShieldIP, a venture backed firm which developed a patented Digital Rights Protection solution for software and music. Prior to ShieldIP, he served as Managing Director and CIO of Investment Technology Group (NYSE: ITG), a leading provider of equity-trading services and transaction research to institutional investors and brokers. At ITG, he managed worldwide technology and product development. Mr. Beinart holds a BSc in Computer Science from Hebrew University.
Eli Atias
Eli Atias is the professional director and guide of the trip to Georgia. Eli is an Israeli photographer, specializing in editorial magazine, photography and photojournalism.
Eli works as a photographer with Israeli magazines and newspapers, among them are the daily newspaper "Yediot Achronot", and the geographical magazine "Masa Acher". Eli works as a freelancer for advertising companies, magazines and public corporations. He teaches photography workshops in various establishments such as "Camera Obscura College" of Photography, "Wizo Haifa" College and lectures about photography at various seminars.
Eli lives in Ramat Gan, Israel.
Eliezer Yaari
Eliezer Yaari is the Executive Chairman of give2gether Inc. and is a consultant to major nonprofits in Israel. Between 1998 and 2010 Eliezer was the Director General in Israel of the New Israel Fund. NIF is an international foundation promoting Civil and Human Rights in Israel, give grants to hundreds of organization and build their capacity through the Capacity Building Center (SHATIL) which is a part of NIF.
Eliezer is a writer and a journalist, and the longest time in his career he worked in the Israel Broadcast Authority, where he filled all possible positions: field reporter, night editor, chief news producer, editor and an anchorperson and in the years 1992 – 1995 he was The Director of Programs of the IBA. All through these years Eliezer wrote short stories, articles and reviews for the local press, and he has a weekly radio show. In 1990 he published his book “Back to the Titanic” a collection of short stories, and in 2004 he published a novel, “Crossings” that received great reviews and is soon going to be produced as a movie.
Eliezer has a BA in History and Philosophy from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Master in Public Administration from the J.F.K. School of Government at Harvard University.
Eliezer documented in writing the trip to Georgia and wrote this web-site.
