How Hollywood Star Gwyneth Paltrow Became an Israeli Spokesperson

1 To sell an expensive apartment in a declining market, you need a Hollywood star. This week, Israel’s advertising break got a Hollywood touch, with the launch of a new campaign for Aviv Melisron’s 51PARK project in Herzliya, starring Oscar-winning actress and businesswoman Gwyneth Paltrow. The commercial was filmed over two days in New York last September, through the WhyWorry ad agency owned by Gabi Attal. Filming took place at three locations, including Central Park and Broadway at 73rd Street. Production costs were twice those of a standard production in Israel, and according to estimates, Paltrow’s fee was $1 million to $1.5 million.

Paltrow is an iconic figure, and her appearance creates differentiation from competitors in the market. Accordingly, the negotiations to bring her on board lasted four to five months. It should be noted that in recent years several campaigns featuring Hollywood stars have aired in Israel, such as Morgan Freeman for Tadiran and David Schwimmer for Meitav, but those were studio films, not exterior-location shoots. Marketing investment is derived from the size of the real estate project, and 51PARK comprises about 650 housing units in two 51-story towers, along with commercial space and public institutions. The project is being built on land near Herzliya Park and the 7 Stars shopping center, which Aviv Melisron won in 2022 in a tender by the Israel Land Authority for about NIS 1.1 billion. The excavation and shoring stage, where every project begins, got underway during the first quarter of the year. Aviv Melisron reported that since the project went on sale in May, 120 registration requests have been received for apartments in the project. Planning is being handled by Yashar Architects, and residents are being offered, among other things, a swimming pool, a gym with a sauna, a Pilates and yoga studio, a business lounge, a wine and cigar room, a private movie theater and a playroom. It should be noted that the company reports a large backlog of 13,000 housing units, of which 5,500 are in planning and construction stages, so most have not yet materialized and are not actually being built. The company is dealing with a relatively large inventory of unsold apartments, 738 housing units as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, while it sold 26 apartments during the first quarter. In all of 2025, the company sold 118 apartments, and at the end of that year the inventory stood at 518 housing units, showing that the stock of marketed apartments also grew during the first quarter of the year.

2 The new investment of Stock Exchange CEO Itai Ben-Zev, CEO of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, has bought the Hapoel Hadera football club יחד with former footballer Asi Rahamim. According to estimates, Rahamim and Ben-Zev, with the help of the Hadera municipality, will cover the hole created in the club’s budget after its recent relegation to the third division, which stands at about NIS 15 million. For Ben-Zev, this is not his first experience in the football world, after in 2020 he served as chairman of Hapoel Beersheba, which Rahamim was then managing. He amassed most of his wealth thanks to his role at the stock exchange, whose share price has surged by nearly 800% over the past five years to a value of about NIS 14 billion. Ben-Zev’s annual salary cost last year was NIS 6.1 million. In addition, he holds about 3.6% of the exchange’s shares, worth more than NIS 500 million in total.

3 Exhibition The resilience center of Clal Insurance and Finance launched a photo exhibition by Lior Rothstein, an autistic photographer, at the company’s headquarters, in cooperation with “Oti,” an Israeli autism association. At the launch event, Rothstein shared his life story and also spoke about the place that creativity holds in his coping journey.

4 New appointments Udi Sharon will be appointed CEO of Postal Logistics and will lead the company’s activity in trade and supply chain areas. He previously served as CEO of DHL Israel, CEO of Haifa Port and CEO of Challenge Airlines Israel. Amit Slonim has been appointed editor-in-chief of the magazine Time Out. He comes to the role after a decade in the culture section of the Walla website. Tamar Greenfeld has been appointed CEO of Supersons, founded by Hani Rado, which promotes balanced and equal female representation at centers of influence and decision-making.

Number of the day 200 million dollars, the amount raised in a month and a half by hedge fund Sphera for the Convertc fund, which will invest in convertible bonds of technology companies on Wall Street