February 22, 2011 - Tel Aviv, Israel

Our day began with meeting US Embassy personnel. As we have seen so far, US representatives from our Embassy are very impressive people.  We are all proud to have these people representing us.  We were fortunate to have six representatives discuss the political, economic and security issues during a time of fast paced change in the Middle East. We were graced with the Minister of Economic Affairs, General Console, Israeli attaché to the USDA, Chief of Economic Affairs, Security attaché, and the Deputy Political Counselor. The insights to not just Israel but the entire region afforded us a glimpse into a culture and country in transition.  They were also frank that the pace of the change in the region has even surprised them. The Security attaché illuminated us into the current states of Gaza, the West Bank, and the surrounding nations influences in this volatile and tumultuous area.  When he described the Gaza strip as a “maximum security prison with guards on both sides,” he painted a vivid picture of a corner of a world that we may never have the opportunity to see.  We also learned that in this area the goal of the people seems to be to manage the issues and not to solve them because many of the issues are viewed as insolvable.  The Political attaché opined about Egypt, Tunisia and how the revolts are changing these countries’ regional alliances. There is great opportunity for industry within the nation of Israel, especially in agriculture where they are currently importing seventy percent of their pistachios and great deal of their fruit from California. There is further growth potential for us to increase the market share for many of our commodities, as the Israeli citizens are willing to pay a premium for high-quality agricultural products.

 

We traveled to Mekorot Water Company for an afternoon presentation on water reclaim systems, desalination, rain enhancement, and other water technologies for the nation of Israel. Mekorot provides 70% of the overall water consumed in Israel. They are using a number of high-technology techniques to enhance their water quality, capture, and efficiency.  Israel, similarly to California, is experiencing a water shortage.  Most of the land is classified as a desert.  In response they have built water reclaim systems that allow for 75% of their water to be reused; they have a new goal of 90% reuse.  They have also focused on water source diversification.  While they use the water from the Sea of Galilee and groundwater in the northern regions as fresh water sources, they have built 30 desalination plants and have plans to build two more large seawater desalination plants in order to ensure that the country’s overall water balance is neutral.  This diversification has also allowed for greater security.  They are online testing all of the sources for potential contaminants and have the ability to shut down any one leg at any given time.  Overall, we learned that many of our CA municipalities have more advanced wastewater digesters than Mekorot; however, Mekorot has created a holistic water strategy plan for their nation.  By executing this plan through innovative techniques and the technologies Mekorot is securing Israel’s future in water.

 

On our return trip from Mekorot, Shimon, our tour guide, showed us more of the wonderful city of Tel Aviv. On the north side of the city, near the university, we had a beautiful view of the modern city of Tel Aviv from a hilltop. As we traveled towards the hotel, we stopped and visited the memorial for Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel who was assassinated in November of 1995. Yitzhak was the embodiment of the ideal Israeli male: a military man who became a politician and gave everything to the state of Israel. The people of Israel equate this tragic event to the JFK assassination, and we feel privileged to have visited the sight and hear details about this great individual.

 

We ended our day with a very special discussion on Israel, it’s people and politics with Aluf Benn.  Aluf is the Editor in Chief of the Haaretz newspaper and a frequent contributor to the NY Times, Washington Post, WSJ and Newsweek.  We learned from Aluf that Israelis are great at going through red tape, cutting corners, not waiting in line and just doing the job.  While this has led to them being the Start-Up Nation and resulted in numerous military successes, this has also the lack of many well run large companies.  It has also driven Israeli politics, which he described as a “loser take all” system.  As a member of the media, Aluf discussed the Israeli reaction to media stories.  He said that stories that are negative about Israeli policies frequently are viewed as not being truthful while the same reporter the next day could run a similar story on China and all would trust all his reporting.  In our question and answer session, Aluf enlightened us on how US Israeli relations and US Middle East relations have changed over the last few years based both on US policy changes as well as changes in policy by key countries such as Turkey.  He said that most countries in the region would likely take a “grocery store” stance to super powers.  There are now enough super powers that you shop around with the super powers and show you are willing to switch alliances frequently in order to arrange the best deal.  After having spent time in Turkey, we were able to synthesize his opinion into our collective views on the world.

 

-Kyle Goehring, Jim Peterson, and David Warter