I’m writing off my usual beat, so be patient. High tech is not my forté; neither are celebs, gossip, fashion or anything that involves large sums of money.  I don’t even like Aviv Geffen’s music, which will be important later.

A small item that made back pages in the papers and a two-minute radio item this morning caught my hope neuron off-guard. A small Israeli start-up called “Mobli” started by a scruffy-looking guy known as “Moshiko” – an affectionate nickname for “Moshe” – has raised four million dollars as a first round investment. The media was mainly interested in the fact that one of these early investors was none other than Leonardo DiCaprio – who used to date Israeli model Bar Rafaeli.

With this sum, modest in high-tech terms, the little start-up has a forehead-smacking simple idea: any person can see the world experienced by any other person. Founder Moshe Hogeg (his last name means “celebrating” – as in, “Moshe is celebrating”) explained in a radio interview that it all started when he went to an Aviv Geffen concert. While watching the erstwhile enfant-terrible from a terrible angle, he gazed longingly at the fans with the good seats, waving their cellphones in ecstasy. At that moment, his sister sent him a text expressing her longing to be in his seat. It was a eureka moment.

Since that time, the company has set about creating a real-time photo and video sharing app, person to person (if I understand correctly – see for yourself), for androids, iPhones and Blackberry devices. The idea is to see anything someone else sees – says Mobli’s website:

Not just for Music, but for Celebrities, Sports, Fashion, News or anything you love! Even add the specific event and location to create communities that enable others to experience it with you!…

Mobli enables users to see the world through other people’s eyes!

When the radio interviewer asked Moshiko about his dream for the future, the unpolished interviewee said he wanted to see people the world over seeing each other’s lives. The interviewer pressed him – but what was his corporate dream, his buyout fantasy? Apple? And this innocent – or strategic – entrepreneur said he didn’t really care for now. He just wants to connect people – the poster boy answer, from the heart of the social media generation.

I’m thrilled that Mobli is run by scruffy hipsters who seem blissfully unaware of anything to do with politics. They want to see sports, celebs, fashion, sure, a bit of news – and surely they want to make some money. With such modest goals they might actually succeed tremendously where millions of dollars channeled through the many well-meaning organizations I often work with have had only limited success – getting broader swaths of society to actually empathize with others, as human beings, to view what they view, live what they live.

I’m waiting for the day when an Israeli can call a Palestinian and visually experience what he/she experiences – children, youth, parents, families, friends, as they wait for hours at checkpoints, live in the shadow of a nine-meter high concrete gash in their lives, clash with soldiers, or just eat dinner with their families and play soccer after school.

I want Palestinians to call Israelis and see what they see, how they live – going to the beach, sitting around over coffee, going to school and social demonstrations and maybe even basic training – why not? Nobody has to love each other or even talk to each other: just watch and experience it for themselves. I personally want to call my FB friend in Saudi Arabia and see what he sees.

I am convinced that when human beings, Israelis, view the reality “through another person’s eyes” as the magical Mobli promises without a hint of moralization – we will not be able to stand it. I know that Palestinian human beings will have a chance to break out of the “soldier/settler” contact with Israelis and this can only be good.

The potential to reach enormous numbers of eager consumers by feeding them a new app with a silicon spoon rather than just dozens of self-motivated participants in people-to-people groups is dazzling.

In fact, I think Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu just had a birthday. Maybe it’s not too late to give him a present.