Two Israelis: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and businessman/entrepreneur Shai Agassi, are on Time Magazine's annual list of '100 most influential people' that was published on Thursday.
Lieberman, chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home), was listed in the sub-category “Leaders and Revolutionaries.” He made the list for his political views, specifically regarding Iran and other nations, friend and foe.
“He will be one of the most vigorous advocates of a pre-emptive Israeli strike to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities should Western diplomacy fail to curb the Iranian project,” the magazine noted.
The brief article on Lieberman also noted that his influence has been somewhat limited by a police investigation into allegations of corruption. Lieberman has been questioned four times since being appointed as minister, usually for several hours at a time. He was most recently questioned on Thursday, in a session lasting eight hours.
The second Israeli on the list, Agassi, was listed in the category of “Scientists and Thinkers.” Agassi is the former President of Products and Technology with SAP AG, Europe's largest software enterprise. In 2007, he stepped down in order to pursue green technology.
Since resigning from SAP, Agassi founded Better Place, which has focused on creating electric cars. Earlier this year Better Place reached deals with 19 Israeli companies to supply electric cars for company fleets.
The company hopes to create an electric car charging network in Israel and Denmark by 2011. Agassi has called the first stages of his program “the tip of the iceberg of global demand,” and says he believes there is demand worldwide for 50 million electric cars.