Like many with hyphenated identities, Israeli-Americans have proven to be uniquely capable bridge builders. In recent years, the Israeli-American Council (IAC), and its partner advocacy organization, the Israeli-American Nexus (IAX), have been able to tap into our community’s unique fluency in both the Israeli and American cultures to build unprecedented partnerships between the people and governments of Israel and the United States. As Chairman of the IAC, I take great pride in the many ways that we are bringing together our two countries by sharing solutions that address our mutual challenges.
This week, the IAC will take an important step forward with this work, as it sponsors a groundbreaking tour to Israel for public and private sector leaders in California’s agricultural sector, including Karen Ross, head of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and Craig McNamara, President of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. Sixteen California leaders will spend a week travelling across the Jewish state, learning about Israel’s cutting-edge farming practices, which have enabled the country to become an agri-tech superpower in a land that was known a century ago for swamps in the north, deserts in the south, and very little water anywhere.