AIPAC: An American and Israeli bond
L’dor vador! From generation to generation. The Parent/Teen Cohort of the CRC/Jewish Federation allowed me to attend the 2017 AIPAC conference alongside my mother, aunt, and grandparents. This is the first inter-generational family group of its kind.
Along with the larger meetings with keynote speakers such as Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, and Alan Dershowitz, I was especially impressed by the smaller sessions where Israeli and American experts in fields such as startups, innovation, defense, and politics spoke in more detail of life inside Israel. I attended a class, “Israel’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: A Year in Review,” featuring Daniel Frankenstein, Daniel Gradius, Yonit Serkin, and Wendy Singer. They spoke on the key to Israel’s technological and innovative successes as a combination of many factors.
The military participation of Israeli citizens requires that they problem solve and build as a team. Long after army service, these individuals retain military values and combine them with networking skills. In fact, most jobs in the military are not on the front line. Many train initially in technological fields and may utilize these skills in the private sector.
A trait coined by Mr. Frankenstein is the “sense of dissatisfaction” in the Israeli mindset. Many Israelis question and challenge existing norms in search of improvement. Interestingly, Israel shares a mindset with the U.S. founding fathers. The preamble of the U.S. Constitution contains the line, “in Order to form a more perfect Union”. Even at the inception of our nation, the U.S. founding fathers knew their novel system wasn’t perfect; future measures would have to occur to uphold national prosperity. The U.S. and Israel’s common mindset separates them from the pack. Both aspire to perfect what may already seem perfect. As a result, Israel dominates the fields of cyber security and technology.
Throughout the AIPAC conference, many voices shared various Israeli technological discoveries and advances. These included the Iron Dome military defense system, water conservation (making water from air), and improved security technology that can protect large crowds, like at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. With new technology, investors choose to continue supporting Israeli business and fueling their Preamble-esque outlook. This achievement is one of many key reasons espoused during the AIPAC convention, as to why America should continue close relations with Israel.
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