"Tim, I too am worried about how the suicide bombings are affecting operations in Israel. However, I don't know how Intel is dealing with it. I guess employees outside of Israel are meant to be kept "out of the loop" with regard to this situation.
"By the way, I've sent an e-mail to Haim Barad, an Intel engineer in Haifa who used to post here occasionally. I hope he, his family, and his friends and coworkers are safe."
Yes, the issue is not what Droid Dan was addressing, the direct bombing of Intel's plants. Rather, the issue is an overall deterioration in things: major cities are boarding up shop doors, tourism is nearly zero, travel plans are being thwarted, and morale is low. CNN has interviewed numerous Israeli professionals who are saying "Enough. If I can't let my children out, if I fear my wife will die in a supermarket bombing, I can't function. I'm returning to America." (Or obvious variants of this.)
I realize Intel's main plants are not in city centers, but Israel is such a small place that major disruptions of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa will affect outlying areas for the reasons we're discussing.
By the way, I could understand why Intel set up a design center in Haifa: it was to take advantage of Dov Frohman's expertise and to use his students and contacts at the Technion. But when I heard a major fab, and then an expansion, were happening in a war-torn country surrounded by Arab states who would like nothing more than to lob a few nukes, I thought it was a dumb idea.
--Tim May |
