Former Knesset Member and billionaire industrialist Steff Wertheimer passed away Wednesday (March 26) at the age of 98.
Wertheimer made aliyah in 1937 from Kippenheim, Germany. He joined the Palmach in 1945 and helped found the reborn State of Israel three years later.
One of the wealthiest people in the country, Wertheimer also founded the ISCAR Metalworking Company in 1952, and served in the Ninth Israeli Knesset.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences and those of his wife Sara, and the government of Israel to Wertheimer’s family “and those who loved him”, calling him“”a man of industry, vision and the Land of Israel.”
Netanyahu noted that Wertheimer chose to build factories in the Galilee and the Negev, “not just to manufacture products, but to build the future. He believed that economic endeavors in the country were Zionist endeavors in every respect. Steff left behind a legacy of initiative, giving and abiding faith in the power of humanity to create and to do good,” the prime minister said.
Baruch HaDayan HaEmet.
