Hezi Bezalel (born 1951) is an Israeli businessman. He is active mostly in Israel, the US, Britain, India, and various countries in Africa. He serves as the Honorary Consul of Rwanda in Israel.

Biography

Bezalel was born in

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

, Iraq and moved with his family to Israel when he was 5 years old. The family settled in the Or Yehuda Absorption Camp, and later on moved to Ramat Gan. During his military service, he served as a tank commander in the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

. He later began his Economics studies at the Tel Aviv University. Following the completion of his M.A in Economics, he began teaching at the Tel Aviv University as well as the Ben Gurion University in Be'er Sheva. He worked as Prof. Haim Ben Shachar's teaching assistant and initiated his PhD studies in London. He moved from Israel to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

in the 1980s, where he established an investment bank in Nairobi, on behalf of a British investment group. In Africa, he became involved in investment banking, project implementation and financing and other businesses. He developed personal relationships with various stakeholders in Africa, such as the President of Rwanda,

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...

, Ugandan President Yoweri Moseveni, who conducted a large scale economic liberalization process in the country, supported by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. In 1995, he purchased the failed Ugandan investment bank

Nile Bank Limited Nile Bank Ltd was a private bank registered in Uganda, with shareholders from Uganda, Israel, and South Africa. Nile Bank has an emphasis on consumer banking. History Nile Bank was established in 1988 for the purposes of providing banking servi ...

, transforming it to a successful and lucrative institution. The Nile Bank was sold to Barclays in 2006, gaining a large profit for Bezalel who was the main shareholder of the bank. Bezalel is the founder and managing partner of The Marathon Group, an international investment group, that deals mainly in investment banking and international trade. The Group deals with projects in telecommunications, energy, infrastructure, agriculture and technology. It holds permanent offices and branches in the UK, US, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, India, Ethiopia and other countries in Africa and Asia. Bezalel is the founder and owner of Carnie Capital, a global investment group based in Israel, operating in over 30 countries globally. Bezalel is a close and personal friend of Rwandan President,

. A story published in the Israeli

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms ...

, it is noted that "...Bezalel is considered an entrance gate for Israeli companies interested in working in Rwanda, and in getting in touch with the local government..." In 2010, he acquired the Israeli Telecom company

Xfone 018 Xfone 018 ( he, אקספון 018, sometimes stylized XFONE) is a company in Israel which provides cellular, telephony international services, and Internet services The company has operated a fixed-line telephony trial service, but has abandoned ...

. In January 2015, the company won a government tender to become Israel's 6th Cellular service provider. In 2016, it was announced that 018-Xphone will partner with local cellular provider Cellcom (Israel) to provide its cellular service in Israel. In early 2016, it was announced that Bezalel is leading a $300M investment fund in African businesses, together with the UK based Duet Group. He established the UAV and sensor technology company Meteor Aerospace together with Itzhak Nissan, the former CEO of

Israel Aerospace Industries Israel Aerospace Industries (Hebrew: התעשייה האווירית לישראל ''ha-ta'asiya ha-avirit le-yisra'el'') or IAI (תע"א) is Israel's major aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both mi ...

. Bezalel previously served as the Honorary Consul of Uganda and during the last decade as the Honorary Consul of Rwanda in Israel,. He also serves as the chairperson of the Israel-Ethiopia Friendship Organization. He is the chairman of Mountaintop Productions, an Israeli-American international film production company, founded in 2010. Bezalel currently resides in Israel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezalel, Hezi Living people 1951 births Israeli businesspeople