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that for them, the meaning of any profession was deeply influenced by the
Zionist idealism of their generation. They viewed their careers with a
sense of collective purpose. A typical example: Gvirol Goldring, former
chairman of the Weizmann physics department and developer of its parti–
cle accelerator, had gone into physics planning to teach high school, since
teachers were needed in the Jewish settlement. The growth of the Science
Corps into a research institute changed Goldring's horizons, but not the
importance that he and his colleagues gave to what they called "building
the country." This is best evinced, perhaps, by the fact that after complet–
ing doctorates at schools like MIT and Columbia, during a U.S. economic
boom that paralleled the worst depression and lowest standard of living in
Israel's history, almost all the scientists chose to return to Israel. Exact
numbers are hard to establish, but of the thirty-five personally known to
me, only three settled abroad. (Even long distance, ties among the corps
remained close. Living in Boston in the 1970s, Bentov collaborated with
Goldring on a method for hal ting an Egyptian invasion, using a giant
cordite-filled plastic bag. Inflated explosively on the bottom of the Suez
canal, the device would cause an artificial tidal wave.)
The contention of Stef Wertheimer, Israel Prize laureate and owner of
Iscar, a billion-dollar high-tech firm, is that the goal of "building the coun–
try" must be adapted to the global marketplace. A corps member,
Wertheimer founded Iscar as a small producer of carbide metal-cutting
tools, in 1952. Though business' claims to good works are often suspect,
Wertheimer's are nationally acknowledged, especially in education. Besides
apprenticeship programs for high school students and soldiers, Iscar runs
the Zur Industrial Institute, a mechanical engineering college, and the
Tefen School for Entrepreneurs. Wertheimer has also established a model
town of privately-owned, affordable homes with superior community ser–
vices for workers, and is continuing to build industrial parks.
When Mr. Shimon Peres recently visited the U.S., I had the opportu–
nity to ask him what he thought now of the Science Corps, which he had
actively supported in its various stages. With a warm, reminiscent smile, he
said, "The Science Corps people were an extraordinary, brilliant group.
And without doubt, their work is at the foundations of Israel's industrial
and defense technology." In sum, the Science Corps' achievements are cen–
tral to Israel's emergence as a technological and scientific leader in the
Middle East.
