Joe Ozer
Executive Director, Israel Bonds UK

Israel Bonds has been in the UK for many years now; we first opened our doors in the 1980s. The staff and lay leaders today may have changed, but our mission —to forge a bond with the State of Israel through investment— has remained constant.

In this UK-centric edition of KOL, we thought it would be an ideal time to let you know a bit about our team members and all the work that we’ve done within the local community.

Let’s start with myself, Joe Ozer, Executive Director for the United Kingdom. I have been with the Israel Bonds organisation since September 2015. I’ve been privileged to be able to develop a team that builds on our individual strengths and makes a difference to our profile within the community.

A team that builds on our individual strengths

Orit Usharovsky, our senior salesperson, joined us at the end 2018. She came to this country from Israel with her husband Alex, thinking they might stay here a year or two. Twenty years and three great kids later, they all still make their home in Surrey. Though her demeanour is gentle, Orit demonstrates great perseverance and passion for the organisation.

Zara Blaskey is our wonderful events and marketing administrator, both for the UK and Israel Bonds international. She came to us in 2017 with a wealth of experience within the Jewish community. Zara is currently on maternity leave — but she’s planning to get back to the office and dig back in very soon.

Simon (Tzvi) Amroussi has been our part-time accountant and bookkeeper for around thirty-five years. When he’s not in our office, he’s in his office at the Naima JPS Primary School, where he is the deputy head.

Finally, the UK team wouldn’t be complete without Florrie Raymond, who has been the ever-guiding constant in the office as our company secretary since 1988. She is now working with her eleventh executive director. A great deal of our success is due to her efforts.

A special mention has to go to our international director, Arnon Perlman, who is in charge of all the regions we are authorised to sell Israel Bonds to outside of North America. Arnon joined Israel Bonds in 2018 and has spearheaded our migration to the twenty-first century by way of developing our online purchasing platform.

Joint events with multiple organisations...has brought us all closer together.

So now that you know who we all are, I should tell you about a couple of the things we have achieved in the UK!

Since Orit and Arnon joined us, Israel Bonds Women’s Division in the UK has been formed and is one of our most active divisions. Currently chaired by Gillian Walnes Perry, we have around twenty dedicated lay leaders, who are passionately helping us to put on events and spearheading projects with the main objective of empowering the women of our communities. This year, we’re hoping to put together a project that will connect our own wonderful Women’s Division with those of Brazil, Mexico, France and Germany.

Our focus on being a part of the community has blossomed of late with our multiple sponsorships of organisations in the UK. Our association with amazing charities such as the UJIA, Maccabi GB and B’nei Mitzvah Charity Challenge has resulted in all of us helping and promoting each other, but more importantly, joint events with multiple organisations such as Manna UK and the British–Israel Chamber of Commerce has brought the organisations closer together.