Introducing Governor Murphy to his audience on a tele-town hall on Friday morning, November 17, was Mark Levenson, chair of the New Jersey Israel Commission, who accompanied the governor on his recent trade mission to Israel. Also accompanying the governor were Dani Dayan, consul general of Israel in New York; and Jose Lozano, president and CEO of Choose New Jersey, an economic development organization whose mission is to encourage and nurture economic growth throughout New Jersey, who organized the trip. This sixth trip to Israel for Governor Murphy in four years came shortly after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) and the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and was aimed at “strengthening economic ties and enhancing bilateral partnerships among innovators in the Garden State and the State of Israel.”
The governor assured his audience that New Jersey stands firmly behind Israel during, and in the wake of, the recent barrage of Hamas rockets aimed at Israeli towns bordering Gaza. “Our ties are unbreakable and long-lasting as they have been for the past 70 years.”
The governor reiterated the stunning similarities between New Jersey and Israel, citing New Jersey as hosting the fourth-largest Jewish population worldwide, and the second in density. Geographically almost the same size, with only a 300,000 population discrepancy, the start-up state and the start-up nation “both have innovation in their DNA,” he said. He praised the consolidation of Teva Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey and envisions many more similar moves in the future. He cited the 1.2 billion dollars of trade through imports and exports during 2017 and hopes to increase it significantly.
While in Israel, in addition to exploring economic, technological and commercial cooperation, the governor met with Israeli university officials and discussed the collaborations in New Jersey between major universities such as Princeton and Rutgers in “creating an arc from the theoretical to the applied and eventually the commercial arenas.”
On a personal note, the governor and wife, Tammy, suffered the loss of Tammy’s father during their trip. In fulfilling his request, the Murphys made an emotional visit to the Kotel where they offered prayers in his memory. Their visit to Yad Kennedy, where they planted a tree in the JNF forest, was especially significant as Governor Murphy hails from Boston and remembers his hero JFK referring to Israel as “the child of hope and home of the brave.”
Following the governor’s address, Dani Dayan thanked the governor for his support of Israel during the current political unrest. He brought a message from Prime Minister Netanyahu thanking the governor for his visit to Israel so early in his term of office. In working closely with five states within the U.S., Dayan is always impressed with the ease with which Israel is able to do business with New Jersey.
By Pearl Markovitz
