Bridges of Enterprise, Honouring Stef Wertheimer and Adnan Kassar
Separated by borders and backgrounds, they were united by conviction that industry, cooperation, and ethical enterprise could help transform a divided region into one bound by shared prosperity and respect.
The legacies of Wertheimer and Kassar feel more relevant than ever, and serve as a hopeful reminder. Across the Middle East, where conflict and mistrust continue to test the human spirit, their lives remind us that genuine leadership begins not with ideology but with the courage to build.
Merchants of Peace
For Stef Wertheimer, industry was never just about production; it was about coexistence. Wertheimer was born in Germany in 1926 and fled Nazi persecution with his family as a child. In Israel, he founded ISCAR Metalworking, which grew from a backyard workshop into a global leader in industrial tools. Through a network of industrial parks in Tefen, Nazareth, Dalton, and the Negev, he brought Jewish, Arab, and Druze communities together in shared purpose.
He often said, “When people work together, they have no time for conflict.” His unrealised plan for an industrial park in Rafah and Gaza reflected that vision, a belief that the private sector, guided by dignity and inclusion, could be a stabilising force in a region too often shaped by division.
Today, as the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to cause deep suffering and despair, Wertheimer’s conviction feels particularly urgent. His vision of shared industry as a bridge between peoples offers a reminder that peace cannot be achieved without hope, and that meaningful work and mutual opportunity remain essential to rebuilding trust.
Likewise
Adnan Kassar, born in Beirut in 1930, devoted his life to a similar ideal. As co-founder and long-time chairman of Fransabank, and as a global business statesman through the International Chamber of Commerce, he was a tireless advocate for Arab economic cooperation. Kassar believed that commerce itself could be a bridge between nations, and that prosperity shared across borders could foster understanding and trust. His quiet diplomacy, integrity, and advocacy for regional integration made him one of the most respected voices in Middle Eastern finance.
Both men embodied what the Business for Peace Foundation calls businessworthy leadership: entrepreneurship anchored in purpose and service to society.
A Regional Tapestry of Purpose
The moral current that ran through their lives can also be seen in other Honourees from the region. In Palestine, Zahi Khouri, founder of the National Beverage Company, has pursued peace through steadfast local enterprise, providing livelihoods and dignity for thousands. In Lebanon, Sarah Beydoun, founder of Sarah’s Bag, transforms lives through creative craftsmanship and women’s empowerment. And in Yemen, Nadia Al-Sakkaf has shown how truth and equality are essential forms of peacebuilding.
Together, these leaders reveal a shared conviction that peace grows from human dignity and from the opportunity to work, create, and participate in society.
What Unites Us Beyond Borders
Their vision reflects a timeless human truth, one eloquently expressed by another German-born refugee from Nazi persecution, Albert Einstein, who wrote that the purpose of life is “to make the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful.” Like Wertheimer, Einstein turned the trauma of exile into a philosophy of humanism and responsibility. Across this region, home to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike, that same ethic transcends religion. It is the moral foundation upon which coexistence can be rebuilt: respect for life, for truth, and for one another’s dignity.
A Call to Leadership
At a time when distrust between peoples feels entrenched, the examples of Stef Wertheimer and Adnan Kassar stand as reminders that the private sector holds not only economic power but moral responsibility. Their factories and financial institutions were not merely places of business, but instruments of connection, proof that commerce, when guided by conscience, can foster peace more effectively than politics alone.
The Business for Peace Foundation honours Stef Wertheimer and Adnan Kassar for their lifelong dedication to prosperity with purpose, and for proving that it is possible to build bridges where others see only boundaries. Together, their legacies form a shared message of hope: that even in divided times, ethical enterprise can light the way toward a more humane and peaceful future.