Yehuda Bronicki, who is head of the Ormat geothermal energy company, said his father saved him and dozens of Jews during the Nazi regime by using his business and negotiating skills. Bronicki's father, Naftali Backenroth, who died in Israel in 1993,  was tormented by his not being able to save more Jews, his son told Globes.

Bronicki's father was a Polish Jew who managed to outwit the Nazis when they overran Poland and the Ukraine. Backenroth negotiated with the Gestapo to win increased food rations and to employ more Jews instead of sending them off to death camps. When the Nazis began closing down workshops, Backenroth convinced them to create a farm where Jewish workers could help increase food supplies, saving the lives of 250 Jews.