Motti Zisser, ‘Father’ of Emanuel, Is Niftar

Motti Zisser, z”l, a religious businessman whose construction projects dot Yehudah and Shomron – and who was responsible for the establishment of the chareidi center of Emanuel – was niftar Thursday morning after a long battle with a serious disease. He was 61.

In 1980, Zisser established the “Kochav Hashomron” construction company which took on numerous projects, including building the first projects in Emanuel, marketed to buyers in Israel and in chareidi communities abroad. In addition, he established several other companies and took on construction projects elsewhere in Yehudah and Shomron.

In 1985, he began doing work in South Africa and built homes, shopping centers, office space and infrastructure projects there as well. He is probably best known as the contractor for the Herzliya Marina, considered the most commercially successful use of Israel’s coastline, as well as the neighboring Arena Mall, which to this day requires that all businesses close on Shabbos and all eateries in the mall have a kashrus certificate. He also built 40 shopping centers in Hungary, 12 in Poland, and 5,000 hotel rooms throughout Europe.

In 1999, he bought a controlling interest in Elbit Imaging, a company he held until 2014, when a bankruptcy court authorized a deal to make payment arrangements for a one billion shekel debt he held to Bank Hapoalim.

Yehi zichro baruch.