Ronald's Perfumes and Gaza Events

There is hardly a woman in Kuwait, from the age of thirty to one hundred, who has not heard of or relied on Estée Lauder cosmetics at least once. In the mid-1970s, she personally traded in Estée Lauder perfumes for a relatively short period. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the most prominent and largest global companies in the cosmetics, skincare, and fragrance sectors. Founded 80 years ago in New York by Estée Lauder and her husband Joseph, Estée was the driving force behind the business. She learned to formulate creams from her chemist uncle and pioneered the idea of offering a gift with every purchase—a policy still followed by nearly all cosmetics companies today.

The company expanded significantly during the 1960s and 1970s through international sales and via London’s famous Harrods department store, introducing products specifically for men in 1964. In 1995, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but the family retained control. Today, it is classified as one of the dominant forces in the global luxury cosmetics market, generating annual sales and revenues approaching $15 billion, with a market capitalization of approximately $40 billion.

The company is run by Ronald Lauder, heir to Estée and Joseph, and president of the World Jewish Congress, the most senior position in the Jewish world. Lauder recently gave an interview to the prominent Israeli newspaper Haaretz, in which the American billionaire—who had been close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for many years and played a key role in supporting and elevating him to the premiership—stated verbatim: “I sold my apartment in Tel Aviv and donated my house in Be’er Sheva to the Jewish National Fund. I have completely cut my ties there.” He added, “I have no intention of returning to Israel. At all. There are too many small conflicts everywhere.”

According to reports in The Times of Israel and Haaretz regarding the interview, Lauder had not lived in Israel permanently but had spent several weeks each year at properties he owned there, including a Bauhaus-style house on Bialik Square in Tel Aviv. Last year, he sold or donated all the real estate he still held.

These remarks came amid a broader rift with Netanyahu ahead of the Israeli Knesset elections held on October 27, 2026. Netanyahu accused Lauder of prioritizing “politics over peace,” while Lauder warned Israelis against reelecting him. Lauder’s stance had some influence on the political deadlock that ensued in Israel.

The billionaire’s decision to completely and comprehensively withdraw from Israel—where he had been the largest supporter, materially, politically, and morally, for over four decades—cannot be separated from the events of October 7, 2023.

Ahmed Al-Sarraf