May 11, 2016
The Honorable Susan Bonilla
Assembly Member, State of California
2151 Salvio St.
Concord, CA 94520
Re: Requesting Your Support for AB 2844
Dear Ms. Bonilla,
My name is Avi Sternberg. I am the CEO of ABC Heart Devices, located in Concord, California. ABC Heart Devices is developing revolutionary medical devices to reduce the incidence of heart attacks and heart disease.
While ABC Heart Devices was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel and maintains a research facility there, our company has a marketing and sales office located at 123 Main Street in Concord, CA. Our Concord office employs 12 Californians. My company spent more than $2.3 million on related payroll in 2015. Our business plan calls for hiring two additional professionals who will work from our Concord office in 2016 and a further three staff members in 2017. I estimate that non-payroll-related expenditures directed to California tax authorities, landlords and other California-based businesses exceeded $3.1 million in 2015.
I am requesting that you support—and cast your votes in favor of—AB 2844. Failure to support this legislation would condone the wanton boycotting of products from companies such as ABC Heart Devices solely because of their ties to Israel. Without passage of AB 2844,anti-Israel bigots would be free to discriminatorily penalize companies such as mine and impede our ability to bring vital products to the marketplace. Further, if AB 2844 were to be defeated, the employment of the Californians currently on our payroll, together with those we intend to add to our ranks, would be jeopardized.
Thank you for reading this letter. I look forward to seeing your name among the members of the California Assembly who consistently cast their votes in favor of AB 2844.
Best regards.
Avi Sternberg
Chief Executive Officer
ABC Medical Devices
123 Main Street
Concord, CA 94521
May 11, 2016
The Honorable Anthony Cannella
California State Senator
1640 N Street
Suite 210
Merced, CA 95340
Re: Requesting Your Support for AB 2844
Dear Senator Cannella,
My name is Dalia Gal-Keshet. I am the CEO of XYZ Material Sciences.
I am writing to you about a matter of extreme importance to me, my company and the vast majority of the thousands of Israeli entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who call California their (second) home.
Israeli businesses (and by implication a large cross-section of the Jewish business community) have been selected for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). While the BDS movement may masquerade around as having some social mission, its foaming-at-the-mouth anti-semitism is beyond dispute. The hatred on the part of the BDS movement towards Israel is so ferocious that Palestinians being thrown out of jobs (at companies such as SodaStream) as a result of BDS machinations is acceptable collateral damage in the opinion of BDS activists. (I suppose that the lack of sentimentality in sacrificing the livelihood of their brethren should not come as a surprise as it hails from the same quarters that rationalize suicide bombers and the use of children as human shields.)
I understand that state legislators cannot be expected to find resolution to age-old conflicts in the Middle East. However, there is one simple course of action that all California legislators should take: to demonstrate their unequivocal, unabashed and uncompromising support for AB 2844. The passage of AB 2844 would inure to the benefit of Palestinians in Israel and California.
XYZ is a truly bi-national company. One founder is a native Israeli while the other founder is a native Californian. We have research facilities in Israel and Merced. We have Californians working in Israel and Israelis working in California.
XYZ Material Sciences proudly boasts 27 Californians on its payroll. Among these employees are seven PhD’s; eight inventors listed on a cumulative 22 patents; and 12 other employees who have earned Master’s Degrees in a variety of disciplines. Our employees directly support at least another 60 Californians.
Of more import to California than our local payroll is the impact that we have on the greater California economic ecosystem. Three of our senior researchers serve as adjunct professors of Material Sciences at universities located in California. The value of the knowledge that they impart to the next generation of material scientists is incalculable. Further, our collaborations with California universities over the last several years (and which are ongoing) have resulted in the delivery of groundbreaking refinements in materials to leading companies in industries of crucial importance to California’s economic vitality. The revenues that our downstream partners in thedefense, auto and clean energy industries have generated from our research is far in excess of $500 million and the revenue streams from many of our inventions are expected to accelerate over the next several years. You may also wish to know that XYZ’s contributions to California have not gone unnoticed by Economic Development Agencies from a multitude of states throughout the country.
The nature, diversity and extent of XYZ’s contributions to California’s economy are not dissimilar to scores of other Israeli companies.
I am requesting that you support—and cast your votes in favor of—AB 2844. Failure to support this legislation would condone the wanton boycotting of products from companies such as XYZ Material Sciences solely because of their Israeli lineage. Without passage of AB 2844, anti-Israel bigots would be free to discriminatorily penalize companies such as mine and impede our ability to bring vital products to the marketplace.
Should you decide to withhold your support for AB 2844, I would appreciate the courtesy of a letter from you explaining why you believe that all companies with connections to Israel are deserving of boycott, divestment and sanctions. It would further be appreciated if that letter would contain a list of your history of supporting BDS treatment towards companies that conduct business with (other) named pariah states.
Best regards.
Dalia Gal-Keshet
Chief Executive Officer
XYZ Material Sciences
123 Main Street
Merced, CA 94521