Cooperation Between Israel
and the State of Georgia

Binational foundation grants shared by Georgia institutions:

Recipients of grants from U.S.-Israel binational foundations:

21st Century Robotics
Arris Corp.
Berry College
Centers for Disease Control
Children's Hospital Medical Center
Clark Atlanta University
Emory University
Eton Systems
Emory Medical School
Georgia State
Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Research Corp.
Hays Equipment Co.
LaRoche Industries Inc.
Medical College of Georgia
OFS Fitel, LLC
SITA Inf. Networking Comp. USA Inc.
Scientific Atlanta
University of Georgia
University of Georgia Research Center
USDA Russel Research Center
USDA Stored Product Insects R&D Lab

Agreements with Israel

Gov. Zell Miller created the Georgia-Israel Exchange in 1992 to explore emerging technology in both industry and agriculture, enhance trade, encourage tourism and jointly participate in economic development programs. Georgia now has its own trade office in Israel.

In November 2005, Governor Sonny Perdue led a trade mission to Israel.

Partners For Change

The U.S.-Israel relationship is based on the twin pillars of shared values and mutual interests. Given this commonality of interests and beliefs, it should not be surprising that support for Israel is one of the most pronounced and consistent foreign policy values of the American people.

Today's interdependent global economy requires that trade policy be developed at the national and state level. Many states have recognized the opportunity for realizing significant benefits by seeking to increase trade with Israel.

Georgia is one of 22 states that have cooperative agreements with Israel. Gov. Zell Miller created the Georgia-Israel Exchange in 1992 to “explore emerging technology in both industry and agriculture, enhance trade, encourage tourism and jointly participate in economic development programs.” In 1993, Gov. Miller visited Israel and stimulated new initiatives, including the opening of an Israeli trade mission in Atlanta.

In 2007, Georgia exports to Israel totaled over $185 million.. Israel is now the State's 24th largest trade partner. Since 1996, the value of Georgia exports to Israel has reached over $1.6 billion. The principal exports are transportation equipment and electrical equipment and components. In addition, Georgia companies received $22,367,870 in 2006 for U.S. government-funded military contracts with Israel through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program (U.S. military assistance to Israel).

Israel is certainly a place where potential business and trade partners can be found. It can also be a source, however, for innovative programs and ideas for addressing problems facing the citizens of Georgia.

Israel, for example, has developed a number of pioneering education programs. One, the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), has been praised by President Clinton as “the best preschool program on earth” and replicated throughout the country, including Albany, Blackshear and Brunswick. A range of other exciting approaches to problems like unemployment, environmental protection and drug abuse have been successfully implemented in Israel and could be imported for the benefit of Americans.

The potential for greater cooperation with Israel for the benefit of Georgia is limited only by the imagination.

Georgia Firms Profit From Business With Israel

As the only country with free trade agreements with both the United States and the European community, Israel can act as a bridge for international trade between the United States and Europe. Moreover, because of the deep pool of talent, particularly in high­technology areas, Israel provides excellent investment opportunities. Some of the nation's largest companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Intel and National Semiconductor have found that it is indeed profitable to do business in Israel.

More than 100 Georgia companies have discovered the benefits of doing business in Israel, including BellSouth, Coca­Cola, Home Depot and Holiday Inn. Several now have operations based in Israel.

Israelis have been drinking Coke for more than 25 years and it is the nation's leading soft drink. Carol Martel, who works in the European Community External Affairs branch of the company, said the independent bottler in Tel Aviv is one of the most high­tech associated with the company, having developed on­site advances in computerization.

The Holiday Inn name is a newer one in Israel, introduced in the last three years after Africa Israel Investments bought a license to convert the Jerusalem Hilton to a Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, converted a Tel Aviv property as well and opened hotels in Tiberias and Eilat. Africa Israel is planning rapid expansion of the chain throughout Israel, with new hotels slated to open in Eilat, the Dead Sea and Nazareth.

Levin subsequently moved to Atlanta-based U.S. Franchise Systems, which has a partnership with Isrotel to build a Hawthorne Suites Hotel in Tel Aviv across from the U.S. Embassy.

Ami Bental, President of Systematic Controls in Kennesaw, said he was looking to do business in Israel and found a kibbutz on the Golan Heights that was in the same field, so he worked out a partnership agreement to manufacture instrumentation and control systems for Israeli industry. “It has been an extremely successful relationship,” Bental said. “Israel is a good place to do business.” He is particularly excited about the prospects for exports from Israel if the peace process is successful. “Our product has a tremendous future in Arab states. The potential is unlimited.”

BellSouth is part of a consortium that won the tender to operate the second cellular phone network in Israel. The consortium now provides digital phone service at the lowest price in the world to approximately 900,000 subscribers.

Sandy Springs­based Advance Building Supply opened the first Ace hardware store in Israel. Atlanta­based Home Depot has not gone that far yet, but it does import products from Israeli companies.

At least three industry specific exchanges between Israel and Georgia have been organized by the Atlanta­based American­Israel Chamber of Commerce to promote health care, telecommunications, and business with software incubators. In addition, 26 Israeli companies now have U.S. or regional headquarters in Georgia.

Israeli and Georgia companies can obtain funding for joint ventures from the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD). The United States and Israel established BIRD in 1977 to fund joint U.S.­Israeli teams in the development and subsequent commercialization of innovative, nondefense technological products from which both the Israeli and U.S. company can expect to derive benefits commensurate with the investments and risks. BIRD funds projects in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Most grant recipients are small firms involved with software, instrumentation, communications, medical devices and semiconductors.

ARRIS, a Suwanee, Georgia company who is a leading provider of broadband access and cable telephony solutions, and Resolute Networks Ltd., the pseudowire Circuit Emulation Service (CES), have developed an integrated end-to-end solution enabling Multi-Service Operators (MSOs) to provision T1/E1 services over standard HFC DOCSIS infrastructure. The solution was developed based on a grant from the BIRD Foundation.

“The BIRD Foundation is pleased to see that ARRIS and Resolute Networks have successfully brought this solution to market,” said Dr. Eitan Yudilevich, the Executive Director of the BIRD Foundation.

According to Bryant Isaacs, President of ARRIS New Business Ventures, “The BIRD Foundation grant, Resolute’s TDM and CES technology expertise and ARRIS’ leadership in DOCSIS technology and TDM over HFC have helped us productize this solution rapidly.”

Since its inception, BIRD has funded more than 740 joint high­tech R&D projects. Products developed from these ventures have generated sales of more than $8 billion, tax revenues of more than $200 million in the United States alone and created an estimated 20,000 American jobs. Four Georgia companies have received BIRD grants.

The American­Israel Chamber of Commerce can provide additional information about BIRD and other business opportunities in Israel (404­874­6970).

Scientific Innovations

Institutions in Georgia have shared with counterparts in Israel more than $1.4 million in grants awarded by the Binational Science Foundation (BSF) since 1987. BSF was established in 1972 to promote research cooperation between scientists from the United States and Israel. It has awarded more than 3,000 grants, involving scientists more than 400 institutions located in 44 states and the District of Columbia. The University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Emory are among the grant recipients.

Albert Padwa of Emory, for example, has been working for many years with a collaborator from Bar­Ilan University who shares his interest in alkaloid synthesis. The compounds they are working with can act as cancer inhibitors and have antibiotic properties; however, in their natural state they are toxic. Padwa is working at the theoretical level to maximize the beneficial effects and minimize the harmful ones. His colleague is the world's expert in the field and does most of the experimentation.

"We complement each other," Padwa said, "and have published several papers together." The BSF grant has also made it possible for the two scientists to visit each other.

BSF­sponsored studies benefit the United States by extending and elaborating research to achieve milestones that might not otherwise be reached; introducing novel thinking and techniques that led American researchers to move in new directions; confirming, clarifying and intensifying research projects; providing access to Israeli equipment and facilities unavailable elsewhere and early access to Israeli research results that sped American scientific advances.

BSF documented no less than 75 new discoveries that probably would not have been possible without foundation­supported collaboration. These advances included the development of new methods and techniques, the discovery of new phenomena and major theoretical breakthroughs.

A 1999 external economic review took an in depth look at 10 BSF projects. These 10 alone, produced aggregate benefits of $780 million, a figure four times the total expenditure of BARD since its inception (1978). The benefits accrue to the United States, to Israel and to both countries together.

Agriculture Benefits

The Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) was created in 1978 with equal contributions by the United States and Israel. Since its inception, BARD has funded more than 800 projects in 45 states and the District of Columbia that have led to new technologies in drip irrigation, pesticides, fish farming, livestock, poultry, disease control and farm equipment. In 2005, 28 projects were funded at 31 U.S. institutions. BARD funds projects in 45 states and the District of Columia. Georgia institutions have shared grants worth more than $3.9 million since 1987, with the University of Georgia receiving nearly $3 million.

Edward Law, a biological and agricultural engineer at the University's Athens campus, has received two BARD grants. The first resulted in the development of an electrostatic sprayer system that is now used commercially. "The system makes more effective and efficient use of pesticides," Law said, "and can reduce the amount of toxic materials used for crop production." The system can be used in greenhouses and for nursery plants.

Law's second grant is for basic research into the role of electric forces in the transfer of pollen. The ultimate goal is to engineer a system to collect and reapply pollen at the most opportune time to improve crop production.

Law's partners in these projects were from Israel's Volcani Center. "The collaboration is broadening our base of knowledge," Law said. The relationship has worked well, he added, because his colleague's work compliments his own.

Another professor in Athens is working on alternative technologies to produce orange juice. Kevin Simpson explained that a "cloud" forms when orange juice is shaken. He and his collaborators hope that gaining an understanding of the enzyme that affects the cloud will obviate the need to use heat to produce orange juice. "I've learned a lot about citrus processing," Simpson said of the research, which will continue for at least two more years under the BARD grant. An earlier project involving Georgia researchers found chicken "fattiness" to be an inherited trait. They developed strategies for breeding leaner poultry. Georgia researchers also were involved in work that produced better guidelines for vaccines to prevent egg production losses caused by infection. Combined with other projects that developed computer programs to help farmers optimize feed use, BARD grantees have made it possible for Georgia poultry farmers to breed leaner, more nutritious chickens and produce them more profitably.

Georgia also benefits from research done elsewhere. For example, BARD grantees developed a computer model that predicts whether peach trees will have sufficient winter chill to permit normal bloom in the Spring, or whether growers should spray them with special growth control chemicals. Another model predicts bloom times. "By giving advance warning of possible frost damage," a BARD report notes, "the program helps farmers mobilize in time to prevent significant losses." Another computer model helps cotton farmers develop optimal irrigation and fertilization strategies.

A team of agricultural economists from the Universities of California and Maryland found that the economic benefits of just five projects - related to cotton, pecans and solarization - exceeded all U.S. investment in BARD. Overall, BARD­sponsored research has generated sales of more tan $500 million, tax revenues of more than $100 million and created more than 5,000 American jobs.

Other Cooperative Programs

In October 2004, a new partnership was launched between the University of Georgia and Hebrew University to study the effects of terrorism on children. The program began with an international symposium on terrorism in Jerusalem. Topics that were addressed included the effects of exposure on terrorism and the rights of victims of terror. A second conference is scheduled for April 13, 2005, on the UGA campus. The project, aimed at improving services to terror victims, was initiated after Mark Lusk, UGA's associate provost for international affairs visited Israel to review hospital protocols after a terrorist attack.

In May 2007, a group of sixteen law enforcement professionals traveled to Israel to study the counterterrorism techniques and emergency management methods of their Israeli counterparts as part of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, a federally funded program run by Georgia State University. This visit was a follow up to a 2005 trip of Israeli police to Hall County, GA.

Sister City Agreements:

City of Atlanta City of Yehud

UJA Partnership 2000 Communities:

Atlanta Yokneam-Meggido

Hillel Campus Profiles

State Contacts

AIPAC
2839 Paces Ferry Rd., #1255
Atlanta, GA 30339
Tel. 404-333-8626
Fax. 404-333-8630

American-Israeli Chamber of Commerce-SE Region
1100 Spring St., #410
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel. 404-874-6970
Fax. 404-874-7277
Email. aiccse@mindspring.com
Web. http://www.aiccse.org

Atlanta Jewish Federation
1440 Spring St., NW
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel. 404-870-1635
Fax. 404-874-7043

Lynn Douek, Associate Director
Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism
c/o Atid EDI Ltd
Bldg. 2, Har Hotzvim, P.O. Box 45005
Jerusalem
Israel 91450
Tel. 2­571­0199
Fax. 2­571­0713
Email. atidedi@netvision.net.il
URL: www.atid-edi.com/georgia.htm

Fred Roberts Crawford Witness to the Holocaust Project
Emory University
Atlanta, GA 30322
Tel. 404-329-6428

Israeli Consulate
1100 Spring St., N.W., #440
Atlanta, GA 30309-2823
Tel. 404-875-7851
Fax. 404-874-5364

JCRC, Jewish Federation
1753 Peachtree Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel. 404-873-1661
Fax. 404-874-7043

Jewish Federation of Augusta
P.O. Box 15443
Augusta, GA 30919
Tel. 706-737-8001

Jewish Federation of Columbus
P.O. Box 6313
Columbus, GA 31907
Tel. 706-568-6668

Jewish Federation of Savannah
P.O. Box 23527
Savannah, GA 31403
Tel. 912-355-8111

Zachor Holocaust Center
1753 Peachtree Rd. NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel. 404-873-1661
Fax. 404-874-7043