Gideon Bickel
| Gideon Bickel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 12, 1944 |
| Nationality | Israeli |
Gideon Bickel (Hebrew: גדעון ביקל; Born May 12, 1944) is an Israeli businessman, mainly involve with strategy and execution of programs in agriculture and food production to developing countries and Large corporations. Bickel promoted peace between Israel and its neighbors through agricultural assistance. Bickel was the owner of Flora Stock Exchange in Belgium, was chairman and owner of Carmel Agrexco, and he is engaged in real estate.
Education and Military Service
Bickel finished undergraduate studies in agronomy at the Hebrew University. He has several master degrees, and he holds a doctorate in social sciences from the University of Haifa. In addition, he graduated the National Security College with honors.
Bickel is a retired colonel (in reserve duty) in the IDF, a commander in the paratroopers and was wounded in Six Day war during the break to Jerusalem. He served in Yom Kippur war and in the first Lebanon war, in 1982.
Business career
Bickel began his business career in 1968 as a farmer and exporter of agricultural produce. In 1997 acquired Flora, the flower exchange in Belgium, which was sold after six years of operation to a Belgian shopping center.
In 2011, Bickel purchased the activity of Agrexco, Agricultural Export Company which was owned by the Government of Israel and the Plants Board, and he was appointed and served as owner and chairman of the company, renamed to Carmel Agrexco. In addition to his agricultural activity, Bickel engaged in extensive areas of real estate development, and he is the owner of Hadarim, a shopping mall in Netanya.
Public positions
Bickel served in 1987 as a representative of the State of Israel Bonds in fund raising in the US and Canada. In 1989 he was the chairman of the agricultural strategy committee, established by the Government of Israel, and set at the board of directors at Agridev, which developed and provided agricultural knowledge to countries around the world. Bickel served as a director of several companies and he is the founder and the first president of the Voluntary association Bnei Arazim for children’s care. Bickel was a member of the Israel Export Institute. Bickel was a member of numerous trade exchanges, such as the Chamber of Commerce Israel-US, Chamber of Commerce Israel-Germany, Chamber of Commerce Israel-Japan, Chamber of Commerce Israel-Britain and Chamber of Commerce Israel-Jordan.
Bickel accompanied the agricultural aspect of relations between Israel and its neighbors and worked to promote peace in the Middle East. Bickel served as a chairman of the agricultural committee to interaction between Israel and the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, attended peace conferences in Sharm el-Sheikh, Casablanca, Amman, Cairo, Qatar and the peace conference at Harvard Business School, and assisted in setting up high-tech agricultural projects in Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia.
Bickel accompanied visits and delegation of Prime Ministers and Presidents as an agriculture expert. In this context he visited China, Kenya, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Australia, India, Japan and Thailand. These trips made contacts with heads of state, ministers of agriculture and leading companies in the field of agriculture.
Bickel got the 1989 Kaplan Award for Breakthrough in growing flowers for export, and received many certificates of appreciation, including a certificate of appreciation from the Chamber of Commerce for contribution to the development of free enterprise, a certificate of appreciation from the Minister of Agriculture on agricultural strategy planning and many more.
Personal life
Bickel lives in Kfar Malal, Israel. He is married and has one daughter.
References
1. Froind, Oren (January 23, 2015). "Gideon Bickel in talks to raise capital of ILS 100 million Agrexco". Calcalist (in Hebrew).
2. Cohen, Amiram (June 19, 2012). "gideon bickel didn't buy agrexco to get revenge". Haaretz.
3. Shauly, Avi (September 21, 2011). "Bickel Flowers likely to buy Agrexco for NIS 40m". GLOBES.
4. Cohen, Amiram (November 23, 2011). "The Antitrust Commissioner approved the sale of Agrexco to Gideon Bikel". TheMarker News (in Hebrew).
5. "Company Overview of The Bickel Group Ltd". Bloomberg.