Shlomo Kramer, CEO of Cato Networks and co-founder of Check Point and Imperva, and Prof. Naama Friedmann, professor of neuropsycholinguistics at Tel Aviv University, have set up a new philanthropic venture, the Coda Fund, to support veteran Israeli artists. The aim is to support artists who have made significant contributions to Israeli culture but lack financial security in their later years. The fund’s initial budget will be NIS 5 million for three years, wholly financed by Kramer.
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The fund will award the artists stipends and professional advice in order to enable them to continue with their creative activity without worrying about their subsistence. At this stage the fund is planned to support at one time between five and ten artists in the fields of music, poetry, and cinema, and to cover both their work costs and their basic cost of living.
«There are artists in Israel who have contributed immensely to our culture, but that has not always translated into financial security,» Kramer told «Globes». «They want to continue creating, but difficulties in supporting themselves prevent this. I wanted to fix that, to enable people who have created works for all of us to continue to create even at an advanced age.»
Kramer said that the idea for the fund was born out of the work of Prof. Friedmann with a well-known veteran artist in financial distress. Her therapy led him to produce a new recording, and to continue to appear. «We formed a tie through that story,» he relates. «Naama’s work tied in with an old idea of mine, and she took it upon herself to advance it.»
The fund aspires to grow beyond the initial budget, Kramer says. «I hope that I’m the first but not the last. The fund will be happy to bring in additional investors in order to expand the support. There are many artists who need it. In my field, high tech, there’s creativity that translates into financial security, if you succeed. In the arts, that doesn’t always happen. This is an opportunity for Israel society to say thank you to people who have given it so much.»
The selected artists will receive complete privacy and their identities will not be disclosed. The selection process will be carried out by Friedmann and a team of expert consultants.
Published by Globes, Israel business news — en.globes.co.il — on November 23, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
