Enjoying a beer in Mahane Yehuda (illustrative)
Enjoying a beer in Mahane Yehuda (illustrative)Hadas Parush/Flash 90

Ruach Hadasha, an organization dedicated to keep young professionals in Jerusalem by breathing new life into the city, is creating a new initiative program which will see fourteen CEO’s of major Israeli companies kick back with the other ninety nine percent over a beer in the Machane Yehuda outdoor market on Monday.

“This is the first event of its kind,” said Heftzi Tirosh Director of Government Department for Ruach Hadashah . “We hope to help create a dialogue between the younger working generation and the heads of some of Israel’s largest organizations.”

At the event which will take place on Monday evening at 8:30 p.m., and more than fourteen CEO’s and heads of Government offices as well as other state organizations will be participating. Included in the list of VIP CEO’s are Eli Groner, Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, Orit Farkash, Chairman of the Israel Electric Company and Shaul Meridor, Director General of the Ministry of National Infrastructures.

Some of the meetings will overlap and they will all be taking place at various bars in the open market. Entrance to the event is free of charge, thereby making it accessible to everyone.

The event is part of Ruach Hadashah’s governance project, that is striving to make Jerusalem more of an accessible government center, like many other capital cities in across the globe. The hope is to allow the thousands of people who are expected to attend the event to sit eye-to-eye with the some of the biggest decision makers in Israel.

“We want to bring back the offices and the people working in them from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“Once that happens, then the next generation who are interested in governance will also move to Jerusalem. The move will also bring a lot of financial help to the city. We hope that events like these, will bring about that change, and will give the city more of a feel of a government city, like Washington D.C.,” said Tirosh.   

Additionally, the organization sees this as an opportunity for these CEO’s to come and show their support for the shopkeepers and bar owners of the open market in light of the stressful security situation in the capital. “Due to the current security situation, this show of support is incredibly important” said Tirosh. “One of the reasons that we decided with to hold this event now is to increase the engagement between the people of Jerusalem and the government.”

Tirosh said that this meeting is in line with one of the highest agenda’s the organization has. “We have to remind the people of Jerusalem that the government is here, and that this is the city where the government resides. We want to show them that Jerusalem is important to the Government as well.”

Following the overwhelming response that the organization received when planning the event, that message came through loud and clear. “We were astounded at how many of the people in charge of ministries and 'higher-ups' in the government felt that this was important, that Jerusalem is important to them.” While Tirosh was talking with Arutz Sheva two other Director Generals of Ministries signed up to participate in the event. 

This is the first of its kind for Ruach Hadashah, but the organization hopes to follow through with more such events in the future.

“This is the first time we are putting the people ‘behind the curtain’ out in the spotlight,” said Tirosh.  “They are the ones who have to make the decisions within the ministry. It shows that the government is indeed behind the people of Jerusalem, the shop owners as well as the consumers.”  

The evening will get kicked off at 8:30 p.m. when Amir Levi, Director of Budgets Department in the ministry of Finance, will be at “Hashchena” bar,  and Shaul Meridor will be at 'Cafe De Paris'.

Continuing on at 9pm, Orit Farkash will be at the 'Shuka bar', Shai Babad, Director General of the Ministry of Finance will be at the 'Freddy Lemon bar', and Amir Halevi Director General of the Ministry of Tourism will be at 'Shem Tov bar'.

At 9:30 p.m. Amnon Merhav, Director General of the City of Jerusalem, will be at 'O’Connell’s in the Shuk'.

At 10 p.m. Moshe Bar Siman Tov, Director General of the Health Ministry will be at the 'Shem Tov Bar', and and Amy Palmer Director General of the Justice Ministry will be at the 'Que Pasa bar'.

Eli Groner will end things off at 10:30 p.m. at 'O’Connell’s in the Shuk', while Avi Weiss CEO of Channel 2 News will be at 'Freddy Lemon Bar'.