Ido Dissentshik

Ido Joseph Dissentshik was born in Tel Aviv in 1940. He holds a BA in economics and statistics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1964), a masters’ degree, cum laude, in journalism from Columbia University, New York (1966), and an MBA diploma from Tel Aviv University (1993).
In 1965, he launched a prolific journalistic career at Maariv daily newspaper. For 26 years, he served in numerous reporting, editorial, and management positions, including, between 1985 and 1991, editor-in-chief, a position he father had held before him. He led an entire generation of journalists, some of who are among today’s star reporters, both in print and in the electronic media.
He then went into business, and is active in banking (Bank Hapoalim) and in insurance (the Phoenix Group), and presently heads the investment committee of Clal Insurance. He was particularly involved in the field of telecommunications and media and led the largest company in Israel, Bezeq, from 2000 until 2002. He served on several boards of directors, was one of the founders of Yes, and served on the board of Pelephone. He founded the private investment company Dison and co-founded Immedia, Mercado, and Analyst Online, the first business and economics portal in Israel (today, a segment of The Marker), and was its first content editor.
In the early 1980s, he was invited to join the Weizmann Institute’s International Board, where his father was a leading member until his death in 1978. He has also served on the Institute’s Executive Board and on several committees. He helped establish the Davidson Institute of Science Education and serves as a member of the Davidson Nonprofit Association. He devotes many hours a month to the Weizmann Institute and its activities, and has helped recruit some of its senior Board members.
Dissentshik is also active in a wide range of community endeavors in Israel and abroad, including as a past member of the directorate of the Baron Edmond de Rothschild Caesarea Foundation and the Jabotinsky Institute, and currently on the Board of Trustees of Tel Hai Academic College. He is a founding member of the Israel Forum, a voluntary association whose goal is to strengthen ties between Israel and the Diaspora and to encourage immigrant integration.
He is married to Batia (Barbara) and they have two adult sons.