Friday, January 09, 2009

Cooperation Between Israeland the State of New York Exports to Israel in 2007

Agreements with Israel

In 1989, Gov. Mario Cuomo created the International Partnership Program to promote exchanges with Israel in culture, tourism and economic development. The New York-Israel Economic Development Partnership was established specifically to promote trade and strategic alliances. In May 1998, Gov. George Pataki led a delegation to Israel and opened a new trade office in Jerusalem.

In 2003, Cornell University and the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development fund (BARD) established a new program for joint agricultural research.*

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. 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. No fewer than 23 states, including New York, have cooperative agreements with Israel.

In 2007, New York exported over $4.8 billion worth of manufacturing goods to Israel, an increase of 6.53 percent from the previous year. The total value of exports since 1996 now exceeds $32 billion. In addition, New York companies received $151,083,792 in 2006 for U.S. government-funded military contracts with Israel through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. Israel now ranks as New York's 4th 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 New York.

Israel, for example, has developed a number of pioneering education programs. One, the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters, has been praised by President Clinton as “the best preschool program on earth” and replicated throughout the country, including the Bronx, Yonkers, Ozone Park, Brooklyn, Rochester and New York City.

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 New York is limited only by the imagination.

New York 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 U.S. and Europe. Moreover, because of its deep pool of talent, particularly in high-technology areas, Israel provides excellent investment opportunities. Some of America’s largest companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Intel and McDonald’s have found that it is indeed profitable to do business in Israel.

Approximately 1,300 New York companies have discovered the benefits of doing business in Israel, including Bell Atlantic, Eastman Kodak, Circle Seal Cooperation and Chase Manhattan Bank. In fact, 22% of Israel’s total U.S. imports come from New York.

New York-based GE (Corporate Research Center) and Systel Development and Industries Ltd. are working on the development of a digital single chip power controller and PLC communications for dimmable ballasts. Systel Development and Industries Ltd. focuses on utilizing digital control techniques that provide innovative solutions to the power conversion and power management markets. GE Corporate Research and Development (GE-CRD) provides technical leadership to GE's product centers. A corporate facility serving the entire company, it compliments the work of many other GE laboratories associated with GE's 12 global businesses. GE has lighting controls and ballast-fixture businesses that are primarily focused on commercial and industrial markets.

The goal of this project is to develop the next-generation Integrated Digital Control: ASIC for Networked Lighting Applications. This ASIC will represent a 'system on a chip' for individually addressable dimmable electronic ballasts. This innovation will include both lamp dimming controls and bi-directional PLC networking functions at the lowest cost.

Eastman Kodak has been doing business with Israel "probably as long as there’s been an Israel," according to Director of International Trade Relations Chris Padilla. Kodak’s main products in Israel are photographic film and paper, but it also sells x-ray film to hospitals. Kodak’s revenue from Israel has been steadily growing. Padilla explained, "American brand names do well in Israel and Kodak is well known." He added that Israel is a good market since it has a "stable economy compared to other markets in the region."

Hawthorne-based J. Jamner Surgical Instruments has been selling surgical instruments to Israeli hospitals for 18 years. The company considers Israel a "good and stable customer," said Director of International Sales, Mark Sherrard. He observed, "Health care appears to be a high priority in Israel. The hospitals there buy only high quality products."

The Circle Seal Corporation Aerodyne Control Division is based in Ronkonkoma and sells electro mechanical motion switches to Israel. The company has been supplying the switches, which detect motion and are used for military purposes such as electronic circuits in bombs, to both the Israeli government and private Israeli companies for at least 15 years. Dick Graeb, Sales Manager, finds the Israelis to be "very confident and very ethical. I enjoy doing business with them."

One company that took advantage of the FMF program is American Technical Ceramics in Huntington Station. The company sells electronic components called capacitators, which are used in radios, cellular systems, radar satellites and other high frequency communications devices. In the 15 years American Technical Ceramics has been doing business with Israel, it has found Israel to be "a strong market," according to Steve Waldenburg, International Sales Manager. He added, "Israel has many hi-tech firms ideally suited to the products my company manufactures. Many design their own products and then choose my company’s components."

One 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 33 states and the District of Columbia. 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 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 740 joint high-tech R&D projects through conditional grants totaling more than $210 million. Products developed from these ventures have generated sales of $5 billion, tax revenues of more than $700 million in both countries and created an estimated 20,000 American jobs. Several New York companies have taken advantage of the BIRD program, including Globecomm Systems, Delta 3 and Lockheed Martin. New York companies have shared over $10 million in BIRD grants since 1977, making the state the second highest recipient, after California.

Globecomm Systems designs and builds satellite ground systems and mobile terminals used for video, television and telephony transmission. Globecomm has received BIRD grants for two joint projects with the Israeli company Shiron in the past four years. In the first, they developed the ELBAN satellite terminal that takes data and converts it to a high radio frequency so it can be transmitted via antenna. The second project is Intersky, a high-speed, two-way Internet connection via satellite. Both BIRD products are being used and offered to customers. Dov Cydulkin, Senior Director of Asia-Pacific Business, commented, "We got together and came up with ideas for satellite communications. They have the know-how and we brought some money. It was a good opportunity." Globecomm has sold products to Israeli phone and TV companies and is currently working on various projects in Israel, in addition to those sponsored by BIRD.

Delta 3, an Israeli company with an office in Monroe, is a web-based company that offers Internet telephony - the ability to hear voices and make telephone calls from the Internet. Director of Marketing and Communications Fara Hain finds an enormous advantage to having offices in both New York and Israel. "Israel is a center for technology and there’s an incredible talent pool there. New York is the center for public relations and promotions." Delta 3 received a BIRD grant for a communications project with Internet Telecom Ltd.

In 1982, Kobi Alexander set up Efrat, an Israeli company that used a BIRD grant to develop a product for multimedia communication processing. In 1983, Efrat started Long Island-based Comverse Technology and made that the parent company. Together, the companies now employ over 700 workers and develop products for voice mail, fax mail, integrated voice and fax messaging, and virtual telephone services targeted at developing countries. Alexander told Link magazine, "Contrary to what many people think, there’s little bureaucracy when it comes to doing business in Israel. It’s very easy."

Decom (1994) Ltd. is an Israeli R&D company, specializing in expert knowledge, methodology, and technical solutions in enterprise-wide information systems, database and metadata management, geospatial data processing and industrial implementation of data processing. New York-based MapInfo Corporation is a worldwide leader in mapping solutions, particularly to the GIS community via the Internet. The goal of their MapInfo Metadata Administrator (MDA) project is to develop an Internet/Intranet family of products that delivers new information discovery, metadata management, and location-based technologies compliant with U.S. and industry standards. MDA is the first industrial implementation of the OGC (Open GIS Consortium) Catalog services, combining Decom’s unique metadata technology with MapInfo’s spatial competencies.

With MDA, organizations holding a significant amount of digital maps may provide their customers and employees with simple tools to rapidly find and use spatial data and accompanying documents without prior knowledge of where those resources may reside, how they are organized, or how they are usually accessed. The MapInfo Metadata Administrator is designed for spatial data consumers, clearinghouses, and spatial data providers. This is all being done through a BIRD grant.

The New York company Acoustiguide received a BIRD grant to join with Israel’s Espro to create an automated audio guide for museums that put voice-overs on chips, rather than tapes. The new guide does not need jacks and plugs and feels like a cellular phone. It is used by New York’s three leading museums - the Metropolitan, the Guggenheim and MOMA - among others. Acoustiguide’s Amos Melamed said in an interview with Link magazine that he worked with Espro because "they came up with some rather amazing new technology."

General Microwave Corp. of Amityville, Long Island received two BIRD grants to work with a subsidiary in Israel. The first was spent on developing microwave oscillators used in telecommunications and radar. The second is financing a fiberoptics project. President Sherman Rinkel told Link magazine that BIRD "helped us judge the market and this gave us added confidence."

Scientific Innovations

New York researchers are making scientific breakthroughs and developing cutting-edge technologies in joint projects with Israeli scientists supported by the Binational Science Foundation. BSF was established in 1972 to promote research cooperation between scientists from the United States and Israel. BSF has awarded nearly 3,000 grants, involving more than 2,000 scientists more than 400 institutions in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Cornell, NYU, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University and Mount Sinai Medical Center are among the New York institutions that have shared nearly $13 million with counterparts in Israel through grants awarded by BSF since 1987. New York ranks second to California in total BSF grants received.

Mark Aronoff, professor of linguistics at SUNY Stony Brook, is using a grant to compare the structures of Israeli and American sign language. He has found that all sign languages are similar in that they are visual and "represent reality in a way you can’t with spoken language," although they differ in grammatical structure. Due to his research, the Israeli deaf community "has become more aware of its language and its uniqueness." Although Israeli sign language is a young language, "Educators have come to realize that it is a language of its own." Aronoff found his Israeli colleagues to be "no-nonsense, and that makes them easier to work with." He has since gotten involved in other work in Israel involving language disorders.

Using the intense x-ray produced at the National Synchrotron Light Source, Dr. Benjamin Ocko, a physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory is studying ultra thin organic films. Normally organic films are grown layer-by-layer, but using a novel "self-replicative" technique discovered by Israeli chemists Rivka Maoz and Jacob Sagiv films can now be grown much faster. The x-ray studies reveal that these films exhibit a very high degree of internal structure on atomic and molecular scales. This research could lead to future advances in microelectronics. Ocko added that "the new nanostructured materials being developed today often benefit from the cooperation of scientists with different backgrounds and our success illustrates this new paradigm."

Professor of Neuroscience Robert Shapley of NYU received a grant to work with a Hebrew University scientist to study how neurons in the visual cortex respond to visual stimuli. They research how the circuits in the brain work, and how the cortex in the brain changes responses that come from the eye. Studying visual function in healthy people and characterizing how the eye and neural paths work can lead to finding how the functions are changed due to diseases such as those of the eye or nervous system. As a result of the research, the scientists have discovered how neurons change the selectivity of cells in the cortex.

They better understand the function of the connections between the cells and the cortex and how the circuits change the signal seen in the eye to the signal seen in the cortex. "My Israeli partner is interested in modeling the cortex, its modifiability and plasticity. I’m more analytical. We complement each other quite a lot," said Shapley. He called the joint effort "mutually beneficial," adding that his Israeli colleague is "more analytical than the average collaborator. He’s a first-class scientist."

BSF-sponsored studies benefit the U.S. by extending research resources; introducing novel approaches and techniques that can lead American researchers to move in new directions; confirming, clarifying and intensifying research projects; providing access to Israeli equipment and facilities and early access to Israeli research results that speed American scientific advances. BSF documented over 75 new discoveries that would not have been possible without foundation-supported collaboration.

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

Martin Schreibman, Distinguished Professor of Biology and Director of Aquatic Research at Brooklyn College, has developed a way to control a species of fish, thanks to a joint U.S. - Israel research project conducted under the auspices of 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. In 2005, 28 projects were funded at 31 U.S. institutions. New York institutions have shared grants worth more than $20 million since 1987. New York ranks second to California in total BARD grants.

Professor Schreibman has received BARD grants for 12 years to research fish reproduction. Schreibman and his Israeli colleagues are working to accelerate the reproductive process, make fish reproduce outside of their natural spawning cycle and control the reproduction of valuable fish for farming. They are characterizing the hormones of striped bass, their gene expression and the timing of their release. They have cultivated a new species of fish and helped create a prosperous fish-farming industry in Israel.

In the U.S., their research has led to the development of an evaluation kit to determine the optimal time for breeding striped bass. Schreibman called the collaboration a "valuable experience," commenting that Israel has some "outstanding scientists who, besides being my colleagues, have become my friends." He added that the Israelis he knows are "bright, hardworking and have goals in mind that they strive to achieve."

Another BARD grant recipient is David Stern, a scientist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and adjunct professor of biology at Cornell. Stern and his Israeli colleagues try to discover how the chloroplast cells in plants use light as a signal to change their metabolism. They study how the genes function in chloroplast cells, knowledge that can be applied to engineering plants and giving them genes for new traits. Based on research done with funding from his two grants, Stern has published articles contributing to the general knowledge base in this field. He said that on an individual level, "There’s a real synergy in this project. [My Israeli colleague and I] are good friends." More globally, "Scientific and cultural ties with Israel are important. The Israeli scientific community could be isolated because of its geographic location. This grant brings the countries together."

Vitaly Citovsky of SUNY Stony Brook used a BARD grant to study the molecular aspects of how viruses and bacteria infect plants. This research can lead to finding new strains of plants that are resistant to diseases. Citovsky has already identified several key components of host cells that are important for infection. He recognizes that "international collaboration is an essential part of research," particularly in Israel where "the science system is close to ours, unlike the European system."

NYU professor Andrew Spielman received a grant to study bitter compounds with Israelis in Rehovot. The researchers successfully discovered the cell biology of how the bitter taste works in orange and lemon peels. This research can lead to finding simple ways of modifying or masking bitterness to improve food products. Spielman used the BARD grant to go to Israel for a week of seminars and interaction with Israeli scientists. He called his collaboration "culturally and scientifically wonderful. The quality of scientists [in Israel] is exceptional and the interaction within this group has been particularly good."

Cornell Professor Gary Harman worked with Ilan Chet of Israel to control plant diseases without pesticides. They have invented, and registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a process that changes fungus cells to protect crops such as corn, beans and tomatoes. In trials done with beans, the yields are double with the new process, and the yield increased 70% with sweet corn. Harman and Chet have formed a new company called TGT Inc. to market their product.

One team of scientists from the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and Hebrew University discovered that the Trichoderma fungus species in soil can prevent diseases in emerging seeds and young plants. They produced new "super-strains" that are effective on a wide range of crops. One has already been registered with the EPA.

Another successful BARD project concluded with the development of the Rift Valley Fever vaccine. The vaccine was created through collaboration between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plum Island (NY) Animal Diseases Center and Israel’s Kimron Veterinary Institute. It will protect cattle, sheep, and even humans in developing countries from the mosquito-borne virus.

Two Cornell University professors are collaborating with a colleague at the Technion to develop a method of early detection and identification of faults in greenhouse operation. They focus on detecting crop stress and other major faults in the categories of sensors, control, structure and crops. Early detection of problems could potentially increase production, improve quality and timing of crops, reduce required inputs per unit of production and protect the environment.
One Cornell University-Volcani Center team is researching which gene combinations are most effective at creating a fungus that will fight powdery mildew in grapevines. This can also lead to finding a cure for fruit rot in grapes. The research can improve the yields of the grape industries in both the U.S. and Israel.

Cornell University and BARD have established a framework for collaborative agricultural research between Cornell and Israeli scientists - the Cornell University/BARD Program (Cornell/BARD fund).

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.

Other Cooperative Programs

The United States-Israel Educational Foundation (USIEF), Syracuse University and the Union of Local Authorities in Israel (ULA) offer two joint grants to Israeli local authority officials, undertaking the executive education Master of Arts in Public Administration degree program of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University.

Sister City Agreements:

City of Brooklyn City of Bnei­Brak
City of Buffalo City of Kiryat­Gat
City of Hempstead City of Pardes­Hana­Karkur
City of Rochester City of Rehovot

UJA Partnership 2000 Communities:

New York City Jerusalem

State Contacts

AIPAC3
East 54th St., 9th Fl.New York, NY 10022Tel. 212-750-4110

American-Israel Chamber of Commerce
310 Madison Ave., #1103New York, NY 10017-6009Tel. 212-661-4106Fax. 212-661-7930Email. 76102.1355@compuserve.com

American Jewish Committee
165 E. 56th St.New York, NY 10022Tel. 212-751-4000

American Jewish Congress15
East 84th StreetNew York, NY 10028

American Jewish World Service
15 W. 26 St., 9th Fl.New York, NY 10010

American Joint Distribution Committee
711 Third Ave.New York, NY 10017-4014Tel. 212-687-6200Fax. 212-370-5467

Anti-Defamation League
823 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017Tel. 212-490-2525
American ORT817 BroadwayNew York, NY 10003

American Zionist Movement
110 East 59th St.New York, NY 10022Tel. 212-318-6100Fax. 212-935-3578

Amit Women
817 BroadwayNew York, NY 10003

ARZA838
5th Ave.New York, NY 10021

B'nai B'rith International
823 United Nations PlazaNew York, NY 10017

CLAL
99 Park Ave., #C-300aNew York, NY 10016Tel. 212-867-8888Fax. 212-867-8853

Conference of Presidents
110 East 59th St.New York, NY 10022Tel. 212-318-6111

Dept. of Economic Development
1515 BroadwayNew York, NY 10036

Economic Mission of the Government of Israel
800 2nd Ave.New York, NY 10018Tel. 212-499-5628Fax. 212-499-5615

Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York
130 E. 59th St.New York, NY 10022Tel. 212-980-1000Fax. 212-888-7538

Government of Israel Trade Center
800 Second Ave.New York, NY 10017

Hadassah
50 W. 58 St.New York, NY 10019Tel. 212-355-7900

HIAS
333 7th Ave.New York, NY 10001-5004Tel. 212-613-1304Fax. 212-967-4483

Israeli Consulate
800 Second Ave.New York, NY 10017Tel. 213-697-5500

JCC of Rockaway Peninsula
10-11 Nameoke St.Far Rockaway, NY 11691

JCPA
443 Park Ave. S., 11th FloorNew York, NY 10016-7322Tel. 212-684-6950Fax. 212-686-1353Web. http://www.jcpany.org

The Jerusalem Foundation60 East
42nd St., #1936New York, NY 10165Tel. 212-697-4188Fax. 212-697-4022

Jewish Federation Broome County
500 Clubhouse RdVestal, NY 13850-3735Tel. 607-724-2332

Jewish Federation Dutchess County
110 S Grand AvePoughkeepsie, NY 12603-3009Tel. 914-471-9811

Jewish Federation of Elmira-Corning
P.O. Box 3087Elmira, NY 14905Tel. 607-734-8122

Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo
787 Delaware Ave.Buffalo, NY 14209Tel. 716-886-7750

Jewish Federation Greater Orange County
360 Powell AveNewburgh, NY 12550-3412Tel. 914-562-7860

Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester
441 East Ave.Rochester, NY 14607Tel. 716-461-0490

Jewish Federation of Mohawk
Valley2310 Oneida St.Utica, NY 13501Tel. 315-733-2343

Jewish Federation Niagara FallsTemple Beth Israel
Rm. #5Niagara Falls, NY 14305Tel. 716-284-4575

Jewish Federation of Syracuse
5700 Commons Park Dr., P.O. Box 510De Witt, NY 13214-0510Tel. 315-445-1559

Jewish Federation Ulster County
159 Green StKingston, NY 12401-3736Tel. 914-338-8131

Jewish Labor Committee
25 East 21st StreetNew York, NY 10010

Jewish National Fund
42 E. 69 St.New York, NY 10021-5093Tel. 212-879-9300Fax. 212-517-3293Email. jnfed@aol.com

Jewish National Fund
78 Randall Ave.Rockville Centre, NY 11570Tel. 516-561-9100Fax. 516-678-3204Email.
jnfed@aol.com

Lights in Action
110 East 59th St.New York, NY 10022Tel. 800-539-7228Web. http://www.lia.org

Na'amat USA
200 Madison Ave. #1808New York, NY 10016

National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel
134E. 39th St.New York, NY 10016Tel. 212-213-8636Fax. 212-683-3475


National Conference on Soviet Jewry
10 E. 40th StreetNew York, NY 10016-1704

National Council of Jewish Women
53 W. 23rd St.New York, NY 10010Tel. 212-645-4048Fax. 212-645-7466

New York-Israel Economic Development Partnership
130 E. 59th St.New York, NY 10022-1302Tel. 212-836-1503Fax. 212-888-7538

Gerry Stoch
DirectorNew York State Department of Economic Development Empire State Development
217/11 Jaffa Rd.POB 36325Jerusalem 91363Tel: 2-538-5330Fax: 2-538-5313E-mail: gerryyes@netvision.net.il, israel@empire.state.ny.us

New York State Trade office
P.O. Box 36325Jerusalem, Israel 91363Tel. 972-2-538-5330Fax. 972-2-538-5313Email. israel@empire.state.ny.us

Operation Independence
350 Fifth Ave., #1921New York, NY 10118

United Jewish Communities (UJC)
111 Eighth Ave., #11ENew York, NY 10011Tel. 212-284-6500Web. http://www.ujc.org

UJA
99 Park Ave. #300New York, NY 10016Tel. 212-818-9100

UJA Young Leadership
99 Park Ave., #300New York, NY 10016Tel. 212-880-1299

Union of American Hebrew Congregations
838 Fifth Ave.New York, NY 10021

United Israel Appeal
110 E. 59 St.New York, NY 10022

United Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York
800 New Loudon Rd.Latham, NY 12110Tel. 518-783-7800Fax. 518-783-1557

Women's American ORT
315 Park Ave. S.New York, NY 10010Tel. 212-505-7700Fax. 212-674-3057Email. waort@waort.org

World Jewish Congress
501 Madison Ave., 17th Fl.New York, NY 10022

YIVO Institute
15 W. 16th St.New York, NY 10011Tel. 212-246-6080Fax. 292-1892Email. yivomail@yivo.cjh.orgWeb: http://www.cjh.org

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Kekejaman ISRAEL