Shimon Peres to speak at the TechCrunch Tel Aviv Meetup and Pitch-Off

Shimon Peres, the ninth President of the State of Israel, will address the TechCrunch Tel Aviv Meetup and Pitch-Off next week.

Peres has famously extolled the benefits of technology and innovation to Israel, both as president and after he left political office. He once said: “In Israel, a land lacking in natural resources, we learned to appreciate our greatest national advantage: our minds. Through creativity and innovation, we transformed barren deserts into flourishing fields and pioneered new frontiers in science and technology.”

With Israel often described as “the Startup Nation,” those words couldn’t be more true today.

The former president’s foundation, the Peres Center for Peace, today champions lasting peace and advancement in the Middle East by “fostering tolerance, economic and technological development, cooperation and well-being.”

The TechCrunch Meetup + Pitch-Off in Tel Aviv is on June 22; there will be 10 startup pitches judged by eminent members of the tech community. (The event is sold out, but there is a waiting list for tickets).

[Image: Wikipedia]