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The Great Oligarchy Quiz
By Doron Rosenblum
Tags: Doron Rosenblum, Israel News

1 Below are words of praise that Israeli kingpins heaped on a very rich man. Read them attentively and then answer the questions that follow.

"You give us a wonderful basis of a past" (Rabbi Yisrael Lau); "You do so much for the Jewish people" (former Shin Bet chief Jacob Perry); "Your contribution to the country is enormous" (Natan Sharansky); "You are so different from the group of oligarchs" (Maj. Gen. (ret.) Eitan Ben Eliyahu); "People simply love you" (Prof. Itamar Rabinovich). Which kingpin was the subject of the above remarks and in what circumstances?

(a) Robert Maxwell, in the state funeral held for him in the section for the great people of the nation on the Mount of Olives in 1991, with the participation of all the country's leaders.
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(b) Arcadi Gaydamak, after he bought the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club.

(c) Billionaire Leonid Nevzlin, about two weeks ago, on the occasion of his 50th birthday.

2 Who has done more for state:

(a) Flatto-Sharon; (b) Arcadi Gaydamak; (c) Robert Maxwell; (d) Arie (Lova) Eliav?

3 A kingpin bought a media outlet in order to promote his image and worldview in Israel, despite his mystery-shrouded past and his controversial character. You were tempted by the high salary and the fringe benefits and were accordingly accused of selling out your famous integrity for a mess of pottage. You repulse these allegations with the words: "There is not, was not and, I have been promised, will not be any intervention on the part of [...] - who, by the way, is, without any connection and without sounding sycophantic, a very nice, cordial fellow and also a cogent intellectual, contrary to everything people say about him ... I was promised complete editorial freedom ... And besides, the time has come to create an alternative to the existing lefty media."

About which kingpin and under what circumstances could you have said that?

(a) Robert Maxwell, when he bought the daily Maariv.

(b) Arcadi Gaydamak, when he bought Radio 99 FM.

(c) Sheldon Adelson, when he started to publish the freebie paper Israel Today.

(d) All of the above.

4 The following four kingpins are connected to the Jewish tradition:

(a) Arcadi Gaydamak; (b) Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, aka "the well-known philanthropist" and the "father of the Yishuv"; (c) the billionaire Leonid Nevzlin; (d) the billionaire Guma Aguiar.

List them in descending order, according to the scale of their contribution. Elaborate and explain.

5 About which of the kingpins listed below was the following written, and in what context?

(a) Arcadi Gaydamak and the shares of OCIF, Petro Group, Tiv Ta'am and Cham Foods, in competition against Lev Leviev.

(b) Lev Leviev and the Africa Israel Group shares in competition against Arcadi Gaydamak.

(c) Shaya Boymelgreen and the Azorim shares in competition against Yitzhak Tshuva and Delek Nadlan.

6 Read the following carefully and answer the question at the end of the passage.

"He thought he was invulnerable. So he embarked on a series of acquisitions at a time when he should have cut back and downsized. His first mistake was to pay an exorbitant price for [...]. The combination of the expensive purchase and the fall of the market worked against him; the other lenders panicked and all wanted their money at the same time ... The banks and institutions that were eager to give him loans did not check to see if he had assets to put up as collateral ... If the banks and the watchdogs had whistled in time, the assets could have been realized before it was too late."

What purchase is referred to, and by whom?

(a) The purchase of the most expensive home in England, in Hampstead, by the diamond merchant and businessman Lev Leviev.

(b) The acquisition of the controlling interest in the real estate group OCIF by Arcadi Gaydamak for a price more than 80 percent above its share price.

(c) The purchase of Macmillan, the publishing house, by Robert Maxwell.

(d) The acquisition of the Plaza project in Las Vegas by Yitzhak Tshuva and Nochi Dankner on the eve of the real estate crisis in the United States.

7 Of which kingpin was it said that: "Only one small detail is not known about this extroverted and publicity-wise person: how he made his original fortune."

(a) Flatto-Sharon; (b) Arcadi Gaydamak; (c) Robert Maxwell; (d) Leonid Nevzlin; (e) Guma Aguiar; (f) all of the above.

8 Complete the following:

"Gusinsky is to Hefetz as Gaydamak is to Milstein, Arison to Danny Dankner, Talansky to Olmert, Gutnik to the settlers, Abraham to Peres, Lauder and Adelson to ..."

9 Who complained that in the wake of the passing of a kingpin she was left "broken," and "penniless" and that she "does not know what to do now," because "no one shared anything with me and I didn't ask," and "I had no clue and still don't have a clue about where the money came from or where it went."

(a) Elizabeth, the widow of Robert Maxwell.

(b) Sharon, the widow of Moni Fanan.

(c) Ruth, the wife of Bernard Madoff.

(d) The State of Israel, between one kingpin and the next.

(e) All of the above.

The Answers

1. c.

2. Flatto-Sharon asked Arie (Lova) Eliav mockingly from the Knesset rostrum: "What did you do for state?" Gaydamak organized tents for the evacuees of the Gaza Strip. But it was Robert Maxwell who was eulogized by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir with the words: "He has done more for Israel than can be revealed."

3. d.

4. The correct order is: Nevzlin, Gaydamak, Aguiar, Rothschild. Nevzlin donated funds to renovate and upgrade the Diaspora Museum; Gaydamak spoke much about the "Jewish tradition"; Aguiar danced during Sukkot in the courtyards of all the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox communities in Jerusalem; Rothschild, as far as is known, did not even ask for the blessing of the "X-ray rabbi."

5. a.

6. c (in an interview with his widow in The Marker).

7. f.

8. Bibi.

9. e.
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