Daniel Liwerant
Mexico City, Mexico
Daniel Liwerant was born in Mexico in 1945, into a Zionist family. His parents Raquel and Ezequiel, who had immigrated to Mexico from Poland in the 1920s, were prominent community activists in education and charity and in the Zionist movement as well.
Daniel Liwerant studied at the Tarbut Hebrew School and was an active member of the Hanoar Hatzioni youth movement. In the early 1960s he came to Israel with his family, since his father was the head of Bank Hatzmauth, one of the Mexican Jewish community’s first investment projects in Israel.
It was in Israel that he pursued his undergraduate studies, receiving his Law Degree in 1967 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During those years he actively participated in student groups, and from 1964 through 1967 he was a member of the Board of the Israel Students Association. In 1967 he married Judith Bokser, a young Argentinian who also studied at the Hebrew University.
In 1968 Daniel Liwerant returned to Mexico to continue his professional and communal life. First he was a founding partner and president of the “L” Building Co., and later of “K” Building Co .Beginning 1988, this company diversified its investment areas, becoming the “K Group”, of which Daniel Liwerant is the CEO.
True to family tradition, he was actively involved in the development of successive investment projects in Israel. From 1976 to 1986 he was a member of the Board of Directors of Banco Hatzmaut and of Fomento Investment Corp, and from 1986 Vice-president of the Board of Directors of Isal Investment Corp. Mexico-Israel. He is also the Secretary of the Fomento Hatzmaut Mexico-Israel Foundation, dedicated to developing charitable works in Israel.
Committed to Jewish life in Mexico and to developing the links between Israel and Jewish life in the Diaspora, Daniel Liwerant headed several projects and held important positions both in Mexico and internationally. From 1983 through 1986 he was a member of the Board of Colegio Hebreo Tarbut and Chairman of its Building Committee.
The central place that Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Agency occupied in his wide range of activities became progressively more pronounced. Thus, from 1988 through 1990, he was a member of the Keren Hayesod Council, Vice-Chairman of the Campaign and Chairman of the Ben Gurion Group of major donors, and from 1990 through 1994 he was the Chairman of Keren Hayesod Mexico. In 1993, he became a member of the World Campaign Cabinet of Keren Hayesod, and from 1995 of the Board of Trustees of Keren Hayesod. Since 1995 he has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency and a member of its Executive, since 1997.
It is important to underscore his increasing involvement and participation during these years as a member of the Joint Authority of Jewish-Zionist Education of the Jewish Agency and, simultaneously, as a member of the governing council of the Education Authority [Reshut Hajinuj] in Mexico. It was within this framework that he created new working relations between financial institutions and the promotion of Jewish education, which made possible to advance important projects in the Jewish education network in Mexico.
In addition, from 1995 Daniel Liwerant participated in the Strategic Planning Project to restructure the Jewish Agency, as Chairman and Co Chairman of the Goals and Priorities Committee, in the framework of successive meetings and working committees. From 1995 through 1999, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Beit Hatefutsot.
His work to promote Jewish life in the Diaspora and in Israel gathered momentum in 1997 when he took up his responsibility as Chairman of the World Board of Trustees of Keren Hayesod, position he held for four years. During this time, Daniel Liwerant headed the institution with commitment, responsibility and a high sense of teamwork. These were years when the challenge of Aliyah and the rescuing of Jews who were in distress required both redoubling the efforts of Keren Hayesod and reinforcing the ties of solidarity and unity in the Jewish world.
Along these years Daniel Liwerant participated in more than 20 symposia, seminars and national and international conferences.
Daniel and Judit Liwerant have built a solid family, with their sons Mark and Gad and their daughters in law Orly Zand and Rebecca Zichlin.
In recognition of his solid trajectory of service as well as his strong commitment and accomplishments, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem awarded him the Doctor Honoris Causa Degree in 1997, in 1999 he received the Annual Leadership Prize from his community Beth El of Mexico and in 2002, in Jerusalem, he was awarded the Israel Goldstein Prize for distinguished leadership, the highest honor bestowed by Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal.
