About AICE

The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) was established in 1993 as a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship by emphasizing the fundamentals of the alliance — the values our nations share.

"There's a depth and richness of this relationship that is expressed every day.... we have an enduring bond of values, interests, beginning with security and the way that we share both information and other things to help the common defense of our common interests..."

-Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

"The American people and the Israeli people share a faith in the future, a belief that democracies can shape their own destiny and that opportunities should be available to all. Throughout its own extraordinary history, Israel has given life to that promise."

- U.S. President Barack Obama

AICE MISSION STATEMENT:

To provide a vehicle for the research, study, discussion and exchange of views concerning nonmilitary cooperation (Shared Value Initiatives) between the peoples and governments of the United States and Israel.

To facilitate the formation of partnerships between Israelis and Americans.

To publicize joint activities, and the benefits accruing to America and Israel from them.

To explore issues of common historical interest to the peoples and governments of the United States and Israel.

To sponsor research, conferences and documentaries.

To serve as a clearinghouse on joint U.S.-Israeli activities.

To provide educational materials on Jewish history and culture.

To promote scholarship in the field of Israel studies.

AICE OBJECTIVES:

FACILITATING PARTNERSHIPS

AICE's major long-term objective is to bring innovative, successful social and education programs developed and proven in Israel to the United States to help address our domestic needs and provide tangible benefits to Americans. In 1996, AICE also began to look at specific opportunities for introducing novel American programs to Israel.

For example, AICE introduced Hebrew University’s innovative YACHAD peer tutoring program to Guilford County (North Carolina) which initiated a pilot project in 1996 to adapt the program. “Reading Together,” as it is now called, improves the reading skills of second-graders and enhances the self-esteem of the fifth grade tutors. The program has been so successful that it is now being used in 207 different schools in 14 states.

PUBLICITY

One of AICE's principal objectives is to enhance Israel's image by publicizing novel Israeli approaches to problems common to both our nations and illustrating how Americans can learn from these innovations.

AICE also works with individual states that are establishing and expanding their ties with Israel. In particular, we produce reports documenting how these states can, and do, benefit from cooperation, trade, and academic & cultural exchanges with Israel.

Reports on cooperation between Israel and all 50 states and the District of Columbia can be found under Israel & the States.

RESEARCH

AICE was created, in large part, to highlight areas where Israel might contribute to the betterment of America.

AICE publishes studies to identify specific programs and approaches that can benefit Americans.

AICE has published the following books and reports:

Breakthrough Dividend:
Israeli Innovations In Biotechnology That Could Benefit Americans

Building Bridges:
Lessons For America From Novel Israeli Approaches To Promote Coexistence

Experience Counts:
Innovative Programs For The Elderly In Israel That Can Benefit Americans

Good Medicine:
Israeli Innovations In Health Care That Could Benefit Americans

Learning Together:
Israeli Innovations In Education That Could Benefit Americans

Partners for Change:
How U.S.-Israel Cooperation Can Benefit America

Rewriting History in Textbooks

Myths & Facts:
A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Tenured or Tenuous:
Defining the Role of Faculty in Supporting Israel on Campus

AICE was a cosponsor of Berga: Soldiers Of Another War

JEWISH VIRTUAL LIBRARY

The Jewish Virtual Library is the most comprehensive online Jewish encyclopedia in the world, covering everything from anti-Semitism to Zionism. There are more than 16,000 articles and 7,000 photographs and maps that have been integrated into the site.

The Library has 13 wings: History, Women, The Holocaust, Travel, Israel & The States, Maps, Politics, Biography, Israel, Religion, Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress, Vital Statistics and Reference. Each of these has numerous subcategories.

Under Religion, for example, we have the complete text of the Tanakh, information on Jewish holidays, and material on relations between Jews and Christians and Muslims. The Politics wing includes collections on U.S.-Israel relations, the United Nations and the peace process. The Reference section has bibliographies of more than 1,000 books and 1,000 web sites, and a glossary of more than 1,000 words and a time-line for the history of Judaism.

The Library also includes the Virtual Israel Experience, an educational tool and virtual tour of Israel designed especially for students going on Birthright and other trips to Israel. The VIE highlights Israel's ancient history accentuated against its timeless beauty and modern culture.

The Jewish History World Tours allow users to virtually visit Jewish communities across the world to learn about their history and culture. The goal is to educate visitors about Jewish heritage, the development of Judaism, the changing nature of Jewish communities and the connection between the Jewish past and present.

Much of the information in the Library cannot be found anywhere else in the world, such as material on joint U.S.-Israel projects, cooperation between Israel and the individual states and the treatment of Americans during the Holocaust. We received permission from the Library of Congress to put its Judaic and Hebraic treasures on our site. We have also received permission to use material from the American Jewish Historical Society, Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (author of “Jewish Literacy”) and dozens of other sources. One of our goals is to offer visitors a single source for information so they don’t need to search thousands of other “Jewish” web sites.

ISRAEL SCHOLAR DEVELOPMENT FUND

To address the critical need to develop new scholars and place established Israel scholars on campus, AICE has created the Israel Scholar Development Fund (ISDF).

This fund will:

Identify U.S. and Israeli scholars who could be placed in visiting professorships.

Offer universities matching funds to hire a visiting scholar.

Brief scholars on issues, provide them media training, and encourage them to educate the public through public lectures and media appearances.

Identify students who want to become Israel/Middle East scholars and offer them scholarships for graduate study.

Develop a strategic plan for promoting Israel studies that would involve identifying institutions that could and should have pro-Israel scholars.

Advise philanthropists on where positions should be created to have the greatest impact, and how to do it so their intentions are not frustrated

CLEARINGHOUSE

AICE has built and maintains a database that contains all joint U.S.-Israel activities conducted on both a governmental and non-governmental level. The database contains more than 4,000 entries, including all recipients of grants from the three binational foundations: the Binational Science Foundation (BSF), the Binational Agricultural Research and Development Foundation (BARD) and the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD).

The Economic Partnership Databank contains information on more than 10,000 U.S. companies doing business in or with Israel. This is the most sophisticated and comprehensive collection of data on U.S.-Israel cooperation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To learn more about AICE, obtain publications, sponsor a wing of the Jewish Virtual Library, or join the AICE listserv, contact us: [email protected]