In July 2006, days after returning from Jerusalem at the start of the Second Lebanon War, Ronn Torossian wrote that Israeli business keeps working under pressure while travel plans change within days. This page preserves the original dispatch, dated July 17, 2006, as the oldest piece in the Israel section of this site. The text below is the 2006 account with light edits, and it states his views at the time.
What did the July 2006 dispatch say?
The dispatch said that the situation in Israel changed within a few days of his visit. Torossian had returned from Israel on Tuesday. The week before, he walked the streets of Jerusalem with a former client and friend, a senior employee of Israel's Ministry of Tourism, who expected tourism to be at an all-time high. By the morning he wrote, two close friends told him they would not board their planned flights to Israel.
He wrote that 5WPR did a great deal of work in Israel and that he found the business people there among the most fascinating in the world: hard-working, smart, focused and aggressive. In his account, they show up to work whatever the circumstances, and Israelis keep living normal lives where a simple transit strike can shut down another city.
What were his three comments in 2006?
He made three comments, and they are his opinions from that week.
- He saw the conflict as part of what he expected would soon be known as World War 3, a struggle between Western civilization and militant Islam, and he hoped Israel would thrive.
- He expected American and worldwide business to be affected the longer the fighting lasted, from gas prices to stock markets and the products that originate in the region. He noted that Intel, Microsoft and many others have operations in Israel.
- He wrote that business in Israel is among the most advanced anywhere outside the United States, and that its leaders deserve close attention for their wisdom.
Where does this page sit in the Israel section?
This page is the oldest archive piece in the Israel section, which is organized in the Israel communications guide. The other archive piece is Bennett and Danon: A 2012 Prediction, Checked in 2026. For current research, see Israeli tech in Florida and Israel as the AI nation, and for ongoing reporting see Olam. Disclosure: Ronn Torossian founded 5W and publishes Everything-PR and Olam.
Frequently asked questions
When was this dispatch written?
It was published on July 17, 2006, shortly after the writer returned from Jerusalem during the opening days of the Second Lebanon War.
Why is a 2006 post still on the site?
It is a dated record of the writer's view at the time, and it anchors the twenty-year archive of commentary on Israel that the guide indexes.
Originally published July 17, 2006. Updated October 2026. The body is the original 2006 account, lightly edited, and its claims are the writer's views from that week and were not fact-checked. The claim that 5W's Israel office dates from 2006 was removed from this page because it could not be verified.