West Virginia and Israel
Trade and Population Statistics
| Exports to Israel (2014) |
$7,045,832 |
| Percentage Change (2013-2014) |
+29.22% |
| Total Exports to Israel (1996-Present) |
$152,873,950 |
| Israel's Trade Partner Rank (2014) |
44 |
| Military Contracts with Israel (2015) |
$0 |
| Jewish Population (2015) |
8,500 |
| Jewish Percentage of Population |
0.6% |
Binational
foundation grants shared by West Virginia and Israel
Grant recipients in
West Virginia from U.S.-Israel binational foundations:
USDA Appalachian Fruit Research Station
West Virginia University
Bilateral
Institutions top
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state page. Email AICE with
any additions, modifications, updates or comments. Thank you for your
support.
Cooperative
Agreements - "Memoranda of Understanding" top
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state page. Email AICE with
any additions, modifications, updates or comments. Thank you for your
support.
West Virginia Government Missions to Israel top
March 2011 - Senator Joe Manchin ran
a 9 day fact-finding mission to a number of countries in the Middle
East including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan and Israel. In Israel,
Sen. Manchin met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Defesne Minister Ehud Barak with whom he discussed the importance of
the US-Israel strategic partnership. During a series of other meetings,
Sen Manchin also sat down with Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni to discuss
possible new avenues to peace with the Palestinians as well as Lt. Gen.
Michael Moeller who has been put in charge of training and developing
the Palestinian Security Forces. Read more about the Senator's trip, CLICK
HERE.
March 2007 - Representative Nick Rahall
joined a Congressional delegation led by Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi (D-CA) on a fact finding mission to the Middle East that included
stops in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Israel. While in Israel the
delegation met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed the viability of the proposed
Saudi Peace Initiative with both national leaders.
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.
It is more difficult to devise programs that capitalize
on the two nations' shared values than their security interests;
nevertheless, such programs do exist. In fact, these SHARED VALUE
INITIATIVES cover a broad range of areas, including the environment,
science and technology, education and health.
As analyst David Pollock noted, Israel is an advanced country with a population that surpassed eight million people in 2013 and a robust, dynamic economy that allowed it to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Between 2005 and 2013, Israel has represented a larger market for U.S. exports than Saudi Arabia. Although Israel's citizenry make up just 3 percent of the total region's population, Israel accounts for 25 percent of American exports in the Middle East.
"It has also been one of the top 20 foreign direct investors in the United States since 2009," Pollock confirms. He adds that "$2.25 billion of the $3 billion in annual U.S. aid to Israel comes back via Israeli purchases of U.S. military equipment - and that is just 5 percent of the total bilateral trade each year."
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. West Virginia is one of 33 states that have cooperative
agreements with Israel.
In 2012, West Virginia exported over $7.8 million worth
of manufacturing goods to Israel. Since 1996, West Virginia exports to
Israel have totaled nearly $140 million and Israel now ranks as West Virginia’s
46th leading trade partner.
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 West Virginia.
Israel has developed a number of pioneering education programs. For example, AICE introduced an innovative Israeli
peer tutoring program to North Carolina that educators adapted for use
in the United States. Now known as Reading Together, the program is
used in 28 states. The program is designed to help students achieve
reading fluency and is mostly used for children in second grade. The
hope is that with its implementation, increasing numbers of students
will perform at grade level or above.
A range of other exciting approaches to social 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 West Virginia is limited only by the imagination.
West Virginia
Firms Profit From Business With Israel top
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 high-technology areas,
Israel provides excellent investment opportunities. Some of the nation's
largest companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Intel and McDonald's
have found that it is indeed profitable to do business in Israel.
Nearly $600,000 in profit has been
accrued from business deals and cooperative projects
between five West Virginia companies and Israel.
One of the companies, Union Carbide, has benefitted
greatly from working with Israel. Working with Israel has been beneficial
both financially and ecologically. Union Carbide has four types of projects
dealing with chemical materials, engineering, petrochemical projects and
treatment of waste materials. The Israeli company, Clearon, for example,
purchased bleach materials that are a waste product for Union Carbide.
Clearon uses the bleach to get rid of pond odors. This waste recycling
process benefits both companies and the environment.
One good way to break into the Israeli market is through
a joint venture with an Israeli company. Funding for such projects is
available from the Binational
Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD). BIRD funds projects in 36 states and the District of
Columbia and hundreds of companies including AOL, GE, BP Solar, Texas
Instruments and Johnson & Johnson have benefitted from BIRD grants.
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 American company can expect to derive benefits commensurate
with the investments and risks. Most grant recipients are small businesses
involved with software, instrumentation, communications, medical devices
and semiconductors.
Since its inception, BIRD has funded more than 800
joint high-tech R&D projects through conditional grants totaling
more than $210 million. Products developed from these ventures have
generated more than $8 billion in direct and indirect revenues for both
countries and has helped to create an estimated 20,000 American jobs.
Dr. Eli Opper, the former Israeli chair of BIRD, has
said that BIRD is a strong pillar of US-Israel industrial
cooperation and that the extreme success of BIRD has
led Israel to adopt similar models of R&D with other countries.
As of yet, no companies in West Virginia have taken
advantage of the reduced risks and greater fundings provided through
a BIRD grant.
Scientific Innovations top
West Virginia researchers are making scientific breakthroughs
and developing cutting-edge technologies in joint projects with Israeli
scientists thanks to support from the Binational
Science Foundation (BSF). BSF was established in 1972 to promote scientific relations
and cooperation between scientists from the United States and Israel.
The fund supports collaborative research projects in a wide area of
basic and applied scientific field for peaceful and non-profit purposes.
Since its inception, BSF has awarded some $480 million
through more than 4,000 grants in 45 states and the District of Columbia.
BSF-sponsored studies are highly successful
in achieving their two main goals: strengthening the US-Israel partnership
through science and promoting world-class scientific research for the
benefit of the two countries and all mankind. The BSF grants help extend research resources to achieve milestones that might
not otherwise be attainable; introduce novel approaches and techniques
to lead American researchers in new directions; confirm, clarify and
intensify research projects; and provide unmatched access to Israeli
equipment, facilities and research results that help speed American
scientific advances. BSF has documented no less than
75 new discoveries made possible by its research grants and counts 37
Nobel Prize and 19 Lasker Medical Award laureates among its joint partners.
Institutions in West Virginia have shared with their
counterparts in Israel nearly $120,000 in BSF grants
awarded since 1996 alone.
Agriculture Benefits top
In 1978 the United States and Israel jointly created
the Binational Agricultural
Research and Development Fund (BARD)
to help fund programs between US and Israeli scientists for mutually
beneficial, mission-oriented, strategic and applied research into agricultural
problems. Since its inception, BARD has funded more
than 1,000 projects in 45 states and the District of Columbia with a
total investment of more than $250 million. In 2000, an independent
and external economic review of 10 BARD projects conservatively
projected more than $700 million in revenue by the end of 2010, a number
which far outweighs the total investment in all BARD projects over its 33 year existence and helps to continually strengthen
the foundation.
Most BARD projects focus on either increasing agricultural
productivity, plant and animal health or food quality and safety and
have been influential in creating new technologies in drip irrigation,
pesticides, fish farming, livestock, poultry, disease control and farm
equipment. BARD funds projects in 45 states and the
District of Columbia and at present is beginning to administer collaborative
efforts between Australia, Canada and Israel as well. It is difficult
to break down the impact on a state-by-state basis, but overall, BARD-sponsored
research has generated sales of more than $500 million, tax revenues
of more than $100 million and created more than 5,000 American jobs.
West Virginia institutions have shared grants worth more than $50,000
since 1979.
In February 2011, Dr. Yniv Palti, of the United States
Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Center for Cool and Cold
Water Aquaculture in Leetown, published the results of his 3-year collaborative
study with scientists at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as well
as at Virginia Tech in the US that was facilitated by BARD funding. The original goal of the project was to provide scientific
and technical basis for initiating certain breeding protocals in the
common carp to make the fish more resistant to viral disease.
Dr. Palti's research was incredibly important because
the common carp is one of the most widely farmed freshwater fish species
in the world. Additionally, edible carp is second only to tilapia in
Israeli aquaculture production and ornamental carp (koi) is an important
product in both the US and Israel. In recent years, the carp industry
worldwide has suffered enormous economic damage due to a viral disease
caused by Cyprinid herpes virus 3 (CyHV-3). The BARD-supported
research was important to finding a sustainable solution to this problem
that will lead to the establishment of a genetic improvement program
for the fish.
For such an important and timely project such as this,
it was of utmost importance that all the researchers could work well
together and complement each others skills. BARD facilitated
excellent communication between the groups in Israel and the United
States and the research was was greatly promoted by this good exchange
of materials, practices and theory. Overall, the collaboration led to
the publication of three joint studies in peer reviewed journals, one
that has been submitted for publication and yet another one that is
in the process of preparation in order to be submitted for publication.
To read more about this project, CLICK
HERE.
In addition to their National Center for Cool and Cold
Water Aquaculture, the USDA's Appalachian Fruit Research Center is another
research institution to receive funding through BARD.
"BARD provided a tremendous opportunity
to help solve important agricultural problems through unique collaborations
between American and Israeli scientists that benefit both countries,"
according to Michael Wisneski, a researcher at the USDA Appalachian
Fruit Research Center.
Wisneski and his Israeli counterparts have discovered
yeast that can protect fruits from rotting that can replace chemical
fungicides. The yeast provides almost complete protection against rotting.
Nearly $2 billion worth of U.S. crops are lost every year due to
post-harvest damage.
The yeast product discovered by Wisneski and his Israeli
counterparts has been patented and sold; it is one of the first biological
products of its kind. This collaborative research has opened up a new
field of research, says Wisneski, "the ability to use biological
control in a post-harvest environment." He adds, "It has been
a truly cooperative project, expertise was used on both sides. BARD funding was responsible for this success story."
BARD research done outside the state
also benefits West Virginia. For example, state apple growers can benefit
from BARD's projects to preserve the fruit's crispness
longer.
Other Cooperative
Programs top
None. Help us build this section of the West Virginia state page. Email AICE with any additions,
modifications, updates or comments. Thank you for your support.
Sister Cities: top
None.
State
Contacts: top
Federated Jewish Charities of Charleston
P.O. Box 1613
Charleston, WV 25326
Tel. 304-345-2320.
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