Israel becomes a 'Promised Land' for non-Jewish geeks
| Tel Aviv, Israel
When Scotsman Joe McCormack got on a plane eight years ago to visit an Israeli girl he鈥檇 met through Facebook, he knew so little about this 鈥渓ittle bit of land鈥� between Europe and Asia that he thought Yasser Arafat was president of Israel.
With a good job at Viacom back in London and no cultural or religious ties to the country, he didn鈥檛 plan to stay beyond his two-week vacation 鈥� let alone move here.
But today he is married to his Facebook sweetheart and serves as CEO of a Tel Aviv-based social advertising start-up, Adquant, which is planning to open a San Francisco office and expand from 30 to 80 employees over the next eight months.
鈥淢y first job, I was working for the Jerusalem Post selling subscriptions to the US. It was a horrible job,鈥� says Mr. McCormack, sitting in his sun-dappled corporate office and recalling the days of getting on the bus at听3 a.m.听after earning less than听拢5 ($7.80) a shift. 鈥淭hat was one of the points when I tried to understand 'What is my place in Israeli society?'鈥�
Now he is part of a cadre of non-Jewish expats who are carving out a niche for themselves in Tel Aviv, where a high concentration of talent and a willingness to try the impossible fuels opportunities to thrive. Their experience, so different from that of immigrants drawn by romantic notions of ancient Israel or modern-day Zionist ideals, highlights a very different side of Israeli society that is often overshadowed by the heated politics of the Middle East.
鈥淭he main reason I鈥檝e chosen to stay here is because of the start-up scene鈥� there鈥檚 a special kind of approach to business, creating something out of nothing,鈥� says Cameron Peron, an American expat who has worked at six start-ups since arriving eight years ago. 鈥淭he drive to build something, to make it happen against all odds 鈥� I didn鈥檛 see that in the US.鈥澨�
A meritocracy
Mr. Peron hails from Port Huron, Mich., and, like many Americans, comes from a family of immigrants who landed in a hard-scrabble environment and pulled themselves ahead with ingenuity and persistence.
However, by the time he graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in international business and marketing, and dabbled in clean tech in San Diego, he felt like America had largely lost its entrepreneurial spark. So when he met an Israeli girl 鈥撎�渢here鈥檚 no other way you can come here [as a non-Jew], by the way鈥� he says 鈥� he jumped at the opportunity to come to Tel Aviv.
Today, they are married, and he is the vice president of marketing at Newvem, a cloud-optimization and analytics firm that works with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Windows Azure. Many other Israelis married to a foreigner move abroad, so many people are 鈥渧ery confused about why I chose to stay here for so long,鈥� he says.
But he wants to start a $10 million company, and Tel Aviv offers fantastic opportunities. Even compared to an innovation hub like San Francisco it has unique advantages, says McCormack, who started his company in his small Jaffa living room with a colleague from work. Though they never needed outside funding, Israel鈥檚 close-knit community of entrepreneurs and investors provided a valuable asset.
鈥淓veryone is accessible in Tel Aviv,鈥� says McCormack, recalling how in his early days a CEO drove out to a caf茅 in his neighborhood to offer advice, without looking for anything in return. 鈥淭hrough meetups you can meet the most prolific angel investors in Israel and you can get introduced. If you have a good idea, you can rise to the top.鈥�
Changing political views
To be sure, there are certain challenges that San Francisco entrepreneurs don鈥檛 face.
When Peron was working late hours ahead of Newvem鈥檚 general availability (GA) for its听AWS analytics service听last fall, rockets were falling on Tel Aviv, triggering sirens.
The rocket fire, coming amid Israel鈥檚 offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, sparked some lively debate with friends. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so palpable in Jerusalem, is largely off Peron鈥檚 radar. When was the last time he was in the听ancient city.
鈥淯mm 鈥�. I was there for a wedding,鈥� he finally remembers. 鈥淚n April 鈥� 2012.鈥�
The last time he chose to go of his own accord was three years ago. With no car and a penchant for international travel, he is far more connected to the cosmopolitan cities of the West than Jerusalem, just an hour to the east.听
Others are more dialed in to the political side of life in Israel, though.
鈥淚srael was the last country in the whole world I ever thought I鈥檇 live in, because I totally disagreed with their politics,鈥� says Gordon Meagher of Dublin, Ireland, another non-Jewish transplant who followed a girl here. But his now-wife 鈥済rew up in a bomb shelter鈥� in Nahariya, near the Lebanese border, and Meagher came to see another side to the conflict.
鈥淚 think that some of our [Israel鈥檚] policies here 鈥� i.e. settlements 鈥� that鈥檚 wrong,鈥� he says,听noting that his perspective is shaped by the violent sectarian battle the Irish people听endured. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e ever going to have peace here, that will have to stop鈥�.听I think if we do that, there鈥檚 enough of this amazing country for both peoples to live in peace.鈥�
Precisely because of the transformative impact of living in Israel, Peron thinks that it would be in the government鈥檚 interest to make it easier for a limited number of highly skilled workers 鈥撎齝hosen specifically for their talent rather than their religion 鈥� to come here each year, not only to contribute to the start-up scene but also to return home as ambassadors for a more nuanced view of Israel.
But that might ruin a well-kept secret, where a handful of outsiders can enjoy floating in the Mediterranean after work and gazing up a palm trees that their friends back in the rainy United Kingdom could only dream of.
鈥淔or me, Israel is like a little unknown kind of paradise,鈥� says听Mr. Meagher. 鈥淒on鈥檛 tell anyone about it because they鈥檒l just come.鈥�
