California Jewish History
Trade & Population Statistics
Binational Foundation Grants
Bilateral Institutions
Fighting BDS
Cooperative Agreements
Government Missions to Israel
Partners for Change
Other Cooperative Programs
Sister Cities & State Contacts

Trade and Population Statistics

Exports to Israel (2024)	$1,535,491,602
Percentage Change (2023-2024)	-8.64%
Total Exports to Israel (1996-Present)	$43,890,055,367
Israel’s Trade Partner Rank (2024)	25
California’s Rank as Exporter to Israel (2024)	2
Military Contracts with Israel (2015)	$109,994,611
Jewish Population (2024)	1,239,890
Jewish Percentage of Population	3.2%

Binational Foundation Grants

Agricultural Research & Development (1979-Present)	$27,453,967
Science & Technology (1999-Present)	$16,987,005
Industrial Research & Development (1977-Present)	$35,083,649
Total	$79,524,621

Grant Recipients in California From U.S.-Israel Binational Foundations

3M Unitek Corp.
Access Systems America
Affine Systems
AG Processing Tech.
Agilent Technologies, Inc.
Agricultural Research Serv, Western Reg
Agricultural Research Service, Berkeley
Agricultural Research Service, Riverside
Alessi Inc.
American Magnetics Corp.
Ames Research Center (NASA)
Apollo Laser
Applied Materials Inc.
Arcadia Biosciences
ArrayComm, Inc.
Atmel Corp.
Bay Networks Inc.
Best Data
BioRad Laboratories Inc.
BIOSYM Technologies
Birdstop
Boole and Babbage
Brooktree Corp.
Buck Institute for Research on Aging
Burnham Institute
Cadence Design Systems Inc.
Caere Corp.
California State University
California Institute of Technology
Calif. Dept. of Health Services
California Microwave
California State
Canoga Perkins Corp.
Carl Zeiss Ophthalmic Systems, Inc.
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Castelle
Cayenia, Inc.
Cedars Sinai Medical Center
Celesco Corp.
Cetus Corp.
Chapman University
Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles
Chip Express Corp.
Chiron Corporation
CIDCO Inc.
City of Hope
Clonetics Corp.
Coherent Components Inc.
Coherent Inc.
Comp. Lodging Systems
Computer Ass. Intnl.
ComStream Corp.
Console Systems Inc.
Corelis
Corumat
Craig Hospital / Adaptive Equipment Company
Cromemco Inc.
Cygna Corp.
Cylink Corp.
Cytel Corp.
DAVID Systems
Daylight CIS
Diasonics Ultrasound Inc.
DIATEC Recycling Tech
Digelec Inc.
Digital Pathways Inc.
Dolch Logic Inst. Inc.
DSP Group, Inc.
DSP Solutions Inc.
EA Systems Inc.
EFI Systems Inc.
EG&G Power Systems, Inc.
Electrosound Group Inc.
Equator Technologies, Inc.
Finisar Corp.
Flextronics
Frantz Imaging Inc.
Galil Motion Control Inc.
GDS Corp.
Genentech, Inc.
Good Samaritan Hospital
HSquare Corp.
Harmonic Lightwaves, Inc.,
Harris Corp.
Harvey Mudd College
HCC Industries
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Hivemapper
Humboldt State
Hunter Sys. Software Ltd.

Hydrologic Research Center
IBCB Syntex Discovery Research
IBM Almaden Research Center
Infinera Corp.
Informix Software, Inc.Institute for Allergy and Immunology
Integrated Device Technology
Intellicorp Inc.
INTERACTIVE Sytems Inc.
Int’l Computer Science Inst.
International Micro. Inc.
International Physicists, Ltd.
International Rectifier Corp.
Int’l Remote Imaging Systems
Intl. Teletrac Systems
Invitrogen Corp.
Isocor
IsraTech Dev’t Corp.
Jostens Learning Corp.
Just For You Inc.
Kineret Engineering
KLA Corporation
La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation
La Jolla Institute for Allergy
Larscom Corp.
Las Cumbres Observatory
LaserScope
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Litronic Inc.
Lockheed California Co.
Loma Linda University
Long Shelf Life Inc.
Loral Instrumentation
Los Angeles County Fire Department
LSL Biotechnologies
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Luz Dev. & Finance Corp.
Luz International Corp.
Magic Software Enterprises
Management Info Technology Inc.
Maximum Technologies
Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch
McDonnell Douglas Aerospace
Mercury Graphics Corp.
Mercury Interactive Corp.
Meret Optical Comm. Inc.
Metalsoft, Inc.
Migada Inc.
Mirion Technologies
Multipoint Networks, Inc.
Naval Postgraduate School
Neurosciences Institute
Northern California Inst for Research & Ed
Nucleonic Development Co.
Nvidia
Octel Communication Inc.
Odetics Inc.
Oracle Corporation
Ornetix Net Work Products
Pacific Micro Data
Packard Bell
Packard Bell NEC
Perceptronics Inc.
Philips Semiconductors, Inc.
Philips USA
Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Plant Biology Laboratory
Pomona College
Proxima
Qubitekk, Inc.
Quintus Computer Sys. Inc.
Racal Instruments Inc.
Radionics
Read Rite Corp.
Ready Systems Corporation
Remec Corp.
Retix Internetworking
Roland Corporation U.S.
Roxio, Inc.
Salk Institute
San Diego State
SanDisk Corp.
San Francisco State University
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Sciteq Inc.
Scripps Clinic
Scripps Research Institute
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Shany Inc.
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center

Signetics Company
Silicon Graphics Inc.
Simulog Inc.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Smith-Kettlewell Eye
Sorrento Networks, Inc.
Spectragraphics Corp.
SRI International
Stanford University
Stanford Linear Accelerator
Stanford Medical School
Starlight Networks Inc.
StarPress Inc.
Startel Corporation
Sterling Software Inc.
StrataCom Inc.
Sygen International
Syntex (USA)
Systems Programming Ltd.
Syva Company
Tandem Computers Inc.
TASCO Inc.
Tauzer Apiaries
TCSI Corp.
Tecnomatix Quality Engineering Inc.
Tekelec Inc.
Teknekron Software System
Telco Sys Net Acc Corp.
Tencor Instruments
Tensorcom Wireless
TermTronics Inc.
Texas Instruments, Inc.
Trimble
University of California
UC Berkeley
UC Cooperative Extension
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Irvine Health Sciences
UC Irvine Medicine
UC Kearny Agricultural Center
UC Merced
UC Riverside
UC San Diego
UC San Diego Medical School
UC San Francisco
UC San Francisco Medical School
UC Santa Barbara
UC Santa Cruz
UCBUSDA Plant Gene Expression Center
UCLA
UCLA Medical School
UCSB
Ultracom Communications Inc.
UngermannBass Inc.
Unify Corporation
United Medical Sys. Inc
University of the Pacific
USC
USC Medical School
USDAAgricultural Research Ctr.
USDA Forest Service
USDA-UCB Plant Gene Expression Ctr.
USDA Vegetable Production Lab
USDA Waste Management Research Lab
USDA Western Regional Research Center
VA Hospital, San Francisco
VA Wadsworth Medical Center
Valor Computerized Systems Inc.
Varian Associates, Inc.
iVAST
Verdia Inc.
Visioneer Inc.
VLSI Technology Inc.
WaferScale Integration Inc.
Western Regional Research Center
Wideband Data Corp.
Wings For Learning, Inc.
Workstation Technologies, Inc.
WSI Inc.
Yahoo, Inc.
Xircom Inc.
Xoma Corp.
Zendex Corporation
Zoecon Corporation
Zoran Corporation

Bilateral Institutions

BioDesign Innovation Institute:
In 2013, Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center opened the BioDesign Innovation Institute in Jerusalem in cooperation with Stanford University. The institutes teach a course on developing new medical technologies and on bringing them to market. The institute announced four new technologies to date: a device to combat obesity, a process to accelerate denture fabrication, an infrared-guided intubation system, and a semi-automatic device to assist with IV insertion.

California-Israel Technology Collaborative:
Founded in the early 2000s by a group of physicians, students, alumni, and faculty at UCLA, the “CAL-I-TC” is based on identifying and encouraging opportunities for high-tech transfer and innovation. It encourages partnerships between the major Israeli universities and the California business and investment communities. The CAL-I-TC strives to harness one of Israel’s greatest assets — its capacity for innovation — by nurturing teachable social and business networking skills to accelerate the commercialization of Israeli technology.

California-Israel Chamber of Commerce:
The CICC is a not-for-profit, non-governmental membership-supported organization dedicated to strengthening business and trade relations between California and Israel. With its extensive, dynamic network of over 9,000 companies, business executives, and investors, CICC is positioned to serve as a facilitator and active supporter of joint-venture programs between the two communities. CICC strengthens business and commercial alliances between California and Israel through networking events, mentorship programs, investment forums, and educational seminars. Famous Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, as well as numerous other innovators, headline the advisory board leadership of the CICC.

Southern California-Israel Chamber of Commerce:
The SCICC is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to fostering bilateral business, trade, and investment opportunities between Israel and Southern California- cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego. It is an essential gateway for individuals and companies of all sizes that currently conduct business in Southern California and/or Israel, plan to initiate or expand operations in these areas, seek strategic trade and investment partners, or want to stay informed about their respective business and investment climates and opportunities.

California-Israel Exchange:
In 1992, then-Gov. Pete Wilson signed an agreement to promote bilateral trade and tourism with Israel. The California Israel Exchange (CIX) was established to promote mutual business development in biomedicine, energy, telecommunications, high technology, and agrotechnology. In May 1998, a new R&D cooperative agreement in the area of biotechnology was formed and, in October 1999, signed by Gov. Gray Davis during his visit to Israel.

Fighting BDS

California Assembly Bill 2844 was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on September 24, 2016. The law requires those who enter into contracts with state agencies to certify that they are not involved in activities that violate the Unruh Civil Rights Act, including support for the BDS movement and its programs.

Cooperative Agreements

In February 2016, Israel’s Science and Technology Minister, Ophir Akunis, signed an agreement between Israel’s Science and Technology Ministry and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The agreement provides a framework for collaboration on stem-cell research, which both participants will jointly fund.

Governor Jerry Brown and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to cooperate on research and technology in July 2014. Chief Scientist Avi Hasson called the deal another in a series of “votes of confidence in Israel’s economy, industry and innovation from a large number of US states and companies.” This agreement would export Israeli desalination, water recovery and recycling, water filtration, and water security technology to water-needy U.S. states.

In March 2014, Governor Jerry Brown signed a pro-business agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expand cooperation between Israel and California. The pact will cover collaboration in cybersecurity, biotechnology, health, water conservation, and drought mitigation. “California doesn’t need to have a water problem,” Netanyahu said. “Israel has no water problems because we are the number one recyclers of wastewater, we stop water leaks, we use drip irrigation and desalination.”

In November 2009, Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) visited Israel and officially signed, together with prominent business leaders from California and Israel, a copy of his legislation, AB 1032, calling for immediate implementation of technology development, business development, and educational opportunities in solar energy and the environmental technology industries. At a Tel Aviv press conference, Blumenfield discussed the legislation signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “As California takes on the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there is much we can learn from the experience and expertise of Israel,” Blumenfield said. “In turn, Israel can benefit from improved communication with, and access to, California’s emerging green-technology sector.”

In June 2008, the mayor of Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) in Herzliya, Israel, signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to tighten the existing relations between the ICT and the City of Los Angeles Homeland Security apparatuses and academic institutions, including the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and Los Angeles World Airports. Under the agreement, the ICT will offer innovative homeland security training and education programs to Los Angeles decision makers and lay leaders, first responders, and law enforcement; the ICT will give two 50% tuition scholarships to its homeland security executive studies for two homeland security practitioners, to be selected by the Mayor, in 2009; the ICT will accept up to 4 homeland security interns annually from Los Angeles universities and/or research centers, and the ICT will host LAPD officers at the 9/11 annual international conference.

In October 1999, Governor Gray Davis and Avishay Braverman of Ben Gurion University of the Negev signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create increased commercial and research linkages in biotechnology, bioinformatics, and bio-agriculture. The MOU was officially intended to facilitate cooperation between the Israel Biotechnology Organization and the California Commission on Bioscience. It is still in effect today and has no known sunset.

In June 1998, Governor Pete Wilson and Israeli Minister of Trade and Industry Natan Sharansky signed a memorandum of intent to encourage trade and investment relations, with the prospect of expanding economic cooperation between California and Israel. Sharansky noted that California and Israel are “natural partners in high tech,” and Governor Wilson added that the pact “encourages...investment, supports international industrial research and development, and encourages a free exchange of ideas and wisdom between businesses, trade associations and commercial institutions.”

California Government Missions to Israel

January 2018 - California State University, Northridge President Diane Harrison and San Jose State University President Mary Papazian visited Israel to tour Israeli universities and learn from their curricula, techniques, and procedures. She was joined by other University and College Presidents from Georgia State University, Hunter College, New College of Florida, and Wake Forest University. The group held working meetings with administrators from Bar Ilan University, Ono Academic College, Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, and the University of Haifa.

February 2013 - Representative Mike Thomson (CA-05), a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories with the HPSCI to gain perspective and assessment of the security environment from officials in the field. Thompson met with Israeli National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and Palestinian Authority Interior Minister Said Abu-Ali. Thompson also met with Israeli and Palestinian intelligence officers.

August 2011 - House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R) led the Republican delegation of 56 congressmen to Israel in the largest-ever U.S. lawmaker visit to the country. Additionally, Congresswomen Janice Hahn and Loretta Sanchez, and Congressmen Kevin McCarthy and John Garamendi, went on the trip, which allowed them to learn about the U.S.-Israel relationship and the U.S. role in Israel’s national security.

November 2009 - Governor Schwarzenegger participated in a forum on Middle East policy in Jerusalem sponsored by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and the Brookings Institution. Former President Bill Clinton, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and several Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also participated in the forum.

May 2008 - Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visited Israel as part of an official, bipartisan American congressional delegation celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state’s founding. While in Israel, Rep. Pelosi took the opportunity to speak with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, with whom she discussed the various regional threats to Israel and ways that the United States could help combat these threats.

April 2008 - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom joined a mission organized by the Jewish Community Federation’s Business Leadership Council (BLC) whose stated goal was to build ties between business leaders in the greater Bay Area and Israel and to provide first-hand exposure to Israel’s vast potential for investment, networking, and business partnerships. The mayor joined the mission to foster greater relationships between local entrepreneurs and business leaders in the high-tech, biotech, and clean-tech industries, and their counterparts in Israel.

March 2007 - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi led a Congressional delegation on a “fact-finding” mission to the Middle East, including stops in Syria , Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Israel. Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim-American elected to Congress, also joined the trip. The delegation met with numerous high-ranking government leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and discussed the viability of the proposed Saudi Peace Initiative for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rep. Pelosi also addressed the Knesset to underscore the importance of the U.S.-Israel partnership.

May 2004 - Governor Schwarzenegger visited Jerusalem as part of his trip around the Middle East and paid tribute to Holocaust victims while at a ceremony at the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem. Gov. Schwarzenegger also met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

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 levels.

Many states have recognized the opportunity to realize significant benefits by increasing trade with Israel. California is one of 33 states that have cooperative agreements with Israel.

In 2024, California exported more than $1.5 billion in manufacturing goods to Israel. Since 1996, California’s exports to Israel have totaled nearly $44 billion, and Israel now ranks as California’s 25th leading trade partner. California ranks 2nd among all states in exports to Israel.

Additionally, in 2015, California companies received more than $109 million in foreign military financing (FMF) to provide materiel for the Israeli Defense Forces. Since 1996, California companies have received nearly $1.3 billion in FMF. These include Marvin Land System, Inc., Check Point Software Tech, Inc., based in Redwood City; Spirent Federal Systems, Inc., based in Yorba Linda; and The Boeing Company.

Israel is certainly a place where potential business and trade partners can be found. It can also be a source of innovative programs and ideas for addressing the problems facing California’s citizens.

Israel has developed several 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. It is designed to help students achieve reading fluency and is primarily used with second-grade students. The hope is that, with its implementation, more students will perform at grade level or above.

California has also received nearly $80 million in grants from binational U.S.-Israel foundations for joint research in science, agriculture, and the promotion of commercial ventures.

A variety 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 to benefit California is limited only by the imagination.

California 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 United States and Europe. Moreover, Israel’s deep talent pool, particularly in high-tech, offers excellent investment opportunities. Some of the nation’s largest companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Intel, and McDonald’s, have found it profitable to do business in Israel.

More than 1,500 California companies have discovered the benefits of doing business in Israel, including Facebook, Google, KLA, Hewlett-Packard, and Silicon Graphics. Israel is California’s 2nd largest export market.

Intel Corporation first established its design center in Haifa in 1974, then a sales office in Tel Aviv, a manufacturing facility in Jerusalem, and, later, a $1.6 billion fabrication plant in Kiryat Gat to add to its semiconductor manufacturing capability there. Today, Intel operates four design centers and two production facilities in Israel. The Pentium MMX chip was designed in Israel, as were the 286 and 386 microprocessors and parts of the 486 and Pentium processors. The Israeli team has also worked on the new processors designed for netbooks (Cedarview) and Windows 8 machines (Cloverview). Former Intel President and CEO Andy Grove told the Israel California Trade Review that “there were many highly talented engineers coming from Israel’s institutions.”

In 2011, Intel announced it would invest roughly $19 million over five years to establish an institute to research computational intelligence. Intel and academic researchers in Israel will jointly manage the institute.

In May 2012, Intel announced the establishment of the Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence in Israel, focusing on applying machine learning, brain-inspired computation, and advanced computer architecture to software. “Within five years, all of the human senses will be in computers, and in 10 years, we will have more transistors in one chip than neurons in the human brain,” Mooly Eden, president of Intel Israel, told Tel Aviv Tech. “The expectation from the Institute for Computational Intelligence is that it will provide a leap forward in research and in ideas that will be translated into products and applications.

Intel is also working to help Israel retain its competitive edge in technology. Intel CEO Paul Otellini visited Israel in November 2012 and announced a new $5 million program to double the number of Israeli students with a scientific and technological matriculation certificate. Working in cooperation with the Education Ministry, the program will be launched in 25 schools in southern Israel.

In 2021, Intel announced plans for a new $200 million facility in Haifa. The company is also investing $400 million in Mobileye, a Jerusalem-based maker of self-driving technologies it acquired in 2017 for more than $15 billion. In 2019, Intel bought artificial intelligence chipmaker Habana for $2 billion and, a year later, Moovit for $1 billion.

Israel’s Finance Ministry said in May 2021 that it would provide Intel with a $10 billion grant to build a new microchip plant. Intel is the largest employer in Israel’s high-tech industry, with nearly 14,000 workers.

During a visit to Israel to announce the new investments, Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger predicted “a vibrant future for Intel and Israel for decades to come.”

Another sign of Israel’s high-tech prowess is U.S. companies’ acquisition of Israeli companies, such as Intel’s purchase of Telmap, a developer of navigation and location-based services.

Silicon Valley companies with subsidiaries in Israel include Harmonic Light Waves, a leader in wireless communication technology, and DSP Communications. Companies with research and development facilities in Israel include BioRad, a leader in biological radiation; Cisco Systems, a manufacturer of multi-protocol equipment; and Hewlett-Packard.

NVIDIA is a tech giant in computer graphics, accelerated computing, and AI. In 2020, the company acquired Israeli-based Mellanox for $6.9 billion. Mellanox manufactures chips and other hardware for data center servers that provide cloud computing services. In 2023, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said, “With Nvidia’s Israel-1 AI supercomputer, a broad range of innovative companies in Israel will create AI that can transform the productivity and business models of enterprises around the world. Israel is home to world-leading AI researchers and developers creating applications for the next wave of AI developments.”

As of February 2024, NVIDIA had seven R&D centers employing some 3,300 workers. Its second-largest development center outside of the U.S. is in Israel. In 2025, Nvidia announced that it will build a new “multibillion-shekel” research and development campus in Kiryat Tivon in northern Israel, a move expected to create thousands of jobs and help establish a new tech hub outside the Haifa area. Construction on the 160,000-square-meter campus is slated to begin in 2027 and conclude in 2031, marking what the company described as its eighth R&D center in the country.

The campus will employ about 10,000 people — doubling Nvidia’s current workforce in Israel — and will feature labs and collaborative spaces designed to “foster innovation within Nvidia and with partners, startups, and the broader ecosystem.” Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said the site will be “a place where our teams can collaborate, invent, and build the future of AI,” adding that “Israel is home to some of the world’s most brilliant technologists and has become Nvidia’s second home.”

Huang described the project as reflecting Nvidia’s “deep and enduring commitment” to Israel and its role in the AI era, though the company has not disclosed a precise figure beyond calling it a “long-term, multibillion shekel investment.” Israeli officials said the campus is expected to have a broad national impact. Israel Innovation Authority executive Shlomi Kofman said the decision “is going to position Israel at the core of AI solutions” and will have “a huge and long-term impact on the economy and education in the northern part of the country, as well as contribute to the economy as a whole.”

Google’s first office in Israel opened in 2006 when the company was just five years old. Since then, they have expanded, with 600 engineers in the country as of October 2016 and a large dedicated start-up “campus” in Tel Aviv. Google has purchased five Israeli companies, most notably paying over $1 billion for the Israeli-developed GPS application Waze.

Don Dodge, the Google developer partner advocate, stated to Business Insider magazine that he has been to “every corner of the earth... [and] there is no other country on earth that thinks the same way that we [Google] do like Israel does.” Half of Google’s Israeli engineers are graduates of Tel Aviv University, and Dodge argues, “there’s an amazing source of talent here.” He added, “Israel truly is the ‘Startup Nation.’ You think like us. You break things, you make things, you’re creative. It’s special.”

In April 2021, Google announced it would establish local cloud infrastructure in Israel. Once completed, the local Google Cloud will improve cloud services for the local startup industry, which the state believes will benefit substantially from the move. Alongside Amazon, Google will set up and operate Israel’s Project Nimbus, which involves building local cloud data centers.

In 2022, Google announced it was investing $25 million over five years to increase opportunities in Israel’s hi-tech sector for underrepresented groups, including women, Arab citizens, ultra-orthodox Jews, and residents of the geographic periphery. Google and Reichman University also established a School of High-Tech to prepare students for in-demand roles in the Israeli high-tech market, including programming, software testing, business development, sales, data analysis, and more.

Oracle is also expected to open a cloud-related center in Jerusalem in the summer of 2021

In 2013, Facebook paid $100 million for Israeli startup Onavo, which develops mobile applications that allow users to track their mobile data usage. This was the third startup Facebook had purchased, but the first to remain in Israel. Facebook planned to convert Tel Aviv-based Onavo into an R&D center.

In 2022, Meta (formerly Facebook) partnered with Hebrew University’s Rachel and Selim Benin School of Computer Science and Engineering and Yissum technology transfer company in a Ph.D. program focused on advanced artificial intelligence (AI) research for the marketplace.

Why is Facebook in Israel?

“Israel is a world leader in all areas of tech,” Facebook’s Maayan Sarig told the Jerusalem Post. “Israel is the only country in the Middle East with no oil. No oil, no soil, no water. What do you do? You innovate.”

According to Facebook’s page on career opportunities in Israel, “Our teams in Israel build apps and services that help connect billions of people around the world, giving them ways to share what matters most to them. The office has an entrepreneurial spirit and a family feel. We move really fast and create impact at scale by building and shipping products like Novi, DataAI, Blockchain, Free Basics, Express Wi-Fi, Data Experiences, and Facebook Lite.”

One effective way to enter 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). The United States and Israel established BIRD in 1977 to fund joint U.S.-Israeli teams to develop and commercialize innovative, non-defense technologies, from which both Israeli and American companies 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 1977, the Foundation has approved investments of more than $125 million in more than 1,000 projects in 36 states and the District of Columbia. Hundreds of companies, including AOL, GE, BP Solar, Texas Instruments, and Johnson & Johnson, have benefited from BIRD grants.

Dr. Eli Opper, the former Israeli chair of BIRD, has said that BIRD is a strong pillar of U.S.-Israel industrial cooperation and that its success has led Israel to adopt similar R&D models with other countries.

Several California companies have taken advantage of the BIRD program, including Telkelec, Caere Corporation, and Harris Corporation, and have received more than $35 million in grants.

In July 2011, two new California-based companies were awarded BIRD grants to collaborate with Israeli companies. Access Systems America, from Sunnyvale, will team with Human Monitoring to develop a social e-publishing ecosystem for interactive content. In San Francisco, Affine Systems will start coordinating with Ron Soferman to develop an online video ad-targeting application using computer vision technology.

In December 2011, two California-based companies were awarded BIRD Foundation grants to partner with Israeli companies. San Ramon-based Mirion Technologies was awarded funding through the BIRD Foundation to partner with the Israeli-based company iFibers to develop a portable laser thermoluminescence radiation dosimeter. Also, the Laguna Niguel-based company Daylight CIS was awarded funding from the BIRD Foundation to partner with Semantipedia to develop a web-based semantic platform for Life Sciences. These grants are part of more than $8.1 million in BIRD awards to nine new projects in December 2011, benefiting companies throughout the U.S. and Israel.

WaferScale Integration (WSI) in Fremont designs and manufactures support chips, called Programmable System Devices (PSD), used in telecommunications, industrial, and consumer products worldwide. WSI opened a design center in Netanya, Israel, and received several BIRD grants for new kinds of PSDs. They created Flash memory-based PSD products that enable product designers to accelerate the design process and allow manufacturing managers to insert final test and operating codes into a product as it moves along the assembly line. They also designed ZPSD devices that consume only microwatts of power and are used in cellular phones, 2-way pagers, medical instruments, and other mobile products.

San Diego-based ComStream Communications used a BIRD grant to collaborate with the Israeli company Orckit Communications. They developed a Digital Satellite Modem that was a technological and commercial success.

Squaw Valley-based Harris Corporation joined CTP Systems in Israel. They developed the communications industry’s first Wireless PBX systems, supported by a BIRD grant.

Mindsense Biosystems Ltd., an Israeli company targeting the discovery of biological markers for psychiatric disorders, has teamed with Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc., a California-based developer and manufacturer of the ProteinChip System for protein discovery, characterization, and assay development. The Mindsense and Ciphergen collaborative plan includes the use of proteomics tools, such as the ProteinChip, to identify biomarkers of major depression in blood samples. Currently, available methods for diagnosing and monitoring psychiatric disorders rely on formal questionnaires/interviews. The introduction of biochemical tools will add objectivity to the current process and shorten the duration of therapeutic efficacy assessment. This approach enables reliable comparison of clinical status over extended periods.

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Systems (NESS) Ltd., an Israeli company using Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) for rehabilitation of the upper body extremity, has teamed with J&J Independence Technologies, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary whose mission is the development of products using innovative technologies to help meet the needs and desires of people with disabilities. The project focuses on the development of a system that assists in the rehabilitation and improves the quality of life of children suffering from cerebral palsy or traumatic head injuries. The system’s purpose is to activate the patient’s neuromuscular system to improve the condition of malfunctioning limbs, normalize posture, and restore functional movement. The system will stimulate the child, encourage maximum participation, and acknowledge success at a self-adapting level.

Through grants from BIRD, IBM Israel in Haifa, and Tensorcom Wireless (San Diego), IBM Israel will develop an ultra-low-power 60 GHz wireless capability for short-distance applications.

In 2016, Evogene in Rehovot and Arcadia Biosciences in Davis received a BIRD grant to work on novel drought-tolerant wheat varieties. In 2019, AgroScout from Misgav and San Francisco-based Birdstop received support to develop a digital agronomy system for automated early detection of crop diseases and pests using a drone-in-a-box platform. Another grant that year went to Raicol Crystals in Rosh Ha’ayin and to Qubitekk, Inc. in Bakersfield to develop an efficient, miniaturized entangled-photon source for quantum computing. Netanya-based 3PLW and Albany-based Corumat received support to develop Food Waste Derived High-Performance Compostable Packaging.

In 2020, BeeHero, based in Tel Aviv, and Tauzer Apiaries in Woodland received funding to develop a smart pollination platform to improve crop yields. Also, in 2020, Vaya Vision in Or Yehuda teamed with Trimble in Sunnyvale to develop a perception-based autonomous driving system for vehicles and heavy machinery in the agriculture, construction, and mining markets.

Also, in 2020, the BIRD Homeland Security (HLS) program funded a project by Ception Technologies in Jerusalem and Hivemapper in Burlingame to develop a Fused Air and Ground 3D Mapping System.

BIRD Energy has provided a grant to Panoramic Power, Ltd., based in Kidron, Israel, and to Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch (MNLB) in San Francisco to develop and pilot a self-powered, wireless current sensor to facilitate load management strategies in commercial buildings.

Over recent years, tech giant Apple has invested significant resources in the Israeli market. Apple acquired Israeli 3D sensor company PrimeSense for a reported $360 million in November 2013. There is no official word yet on why Apple purchased the company. Still, speculation suggests they will develop a program similar to Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect or integrate more motion-based user interfaces into their next-generation devices. In August 2014, Apple announced five new Vice Presidents, including Israeli-born Johny Srouji as the Vice President of Hardware and Technologies. Johny is a former resident of Haifa and is now the top Israeli in Silicon Valley. International news sources reported on August 28 that Apple is poised to open a new office for marketing and sales in Herzliya, expanding its presence in the Israeli market and creating new jobs in addition to the 600 Israelis already employed by the company. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, met with Netanyahu earlier in 2014 to discuss market viability, and Apple now ranks among the tech giants with offices in Israel, including LG, Toshiba, Samsung, and Asus. For more information on this expansion of Apple’s business into Israel.

Scientific Innovations

California researchers are making scientific breakthroughs and developing cutting-edge technologies through joint projects with Israeli scientists, supported by 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 across a wide range of basic and applied scientific fields for peaceful, non-profit purposes.

Since its inception, and in today’s dollars, BSF has awarded over $700 million to more than 5,000 research projects involving thousands of scientists from more than 400 U.S. institutions across 46 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Many of these projects have led to important scientific, medical, and technological breakthroughs with wide-ranging practical applications.

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 both countries and all of humanity. 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 at least 75 discoveries made possible by its research grants and counts 37 Nobel Prize and 19 Lasker Medical Award laureates among its joint partners.

Institutions in California have received nearly $17 million in BSF grants.

Highly sophisticated infrared optical fibers are being jointly developed and fabricated by research teams led by Prof. Avraham Katzir (Tel Aviv University) and Prof. Amnon Yariv (California Institute of Technology), with BSF support. These fibers are to be used by NASA in its search for habitable extra-solar planets. The effort to identify habitable planets focuses on finding a pair of stars similar to the Earth and the sun, and on detecting oxygen, water, and carbon dioxide. Each of these has a characteristic “color” in the infrared, invisible to the human eye, but which can be detected by sensitive infrared equipment. Both NASA and the European Space Agency have programs to identify life beyond our solar system, and BSF-supported research is likely to play a key role in this effort.

In 2010, research taking place at UC San Diego, together with their counterpart Israeli institutions, through BSF Grants included extremely diverse projects such as:

The study of human embryonic stem cells aimed at developing therapies for heart failure.
The calculation of magnetic fields to design electromagnetic devices.
The development of the largest cosmological calculation ever created.
The development of information processing in two-way communication methods.

Vice Chancellor for Research at UC San Diego, Art Ellis, spoke about his institution’s ongoing collaborative work funded by BSF grants. “A BSF grant is highly prestigious in the scientific community,” Ellis said. “There are many examples of successful projects conducted by collaborating U.S. and Israeli scholars that were facilitated by BSF funding, this partnership is path-breaking.”

In 2009, Professor Thomas Anders of the University of California received a four-year BSF grant to work with a team of scientists from North Carolina and Tel Aviv University in Israel on possible interventions for infant sleep problems. In early 2011, the project was just getting underway, with the initial research stages about to begin. The possibilities for this research are incredibly important as infant sleep disorders have been known to cause major problems and, in some cases, can result in death.

With funding from the BSF, Professor Jonathan Leor of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv and his colleagues—Professor Robert A. Kloner and Professor Laurence H. Kedes of the University of Southern California (USC)—are beginning to identify new ways to address heart failure.

Medivision Medical Imaging Ltd., an Israeli manufacturer of ophthalmic digital imaging systems, and Sacramento-based Ophthalmic Imaging Systems, Inc. (OIS), a U.S. manufacturer of ophthalmic digital imaging, image enhancement systems, and analysis software, are collaborating to develop Computerized Guided Laser Therapy (CGLT) for ophthalmologists. CGLT is a unique, non-invasive therapeutic device that enables manual-guided or semi-automatic laser treatment using diagnostic images. The system integrates an optical interface between a camera and a laser therapeutic system. The two optical channels of the imaging system and the laser are combined to provide the ophthalmologist with a real-time, processed image while performing the laser treatment. The main advantage of CGLT is that it provides the physician with an accurate, efficient, automated, and user-friendly tool to diagnose and immediately treat various retinal diseases using standard laser therapy techniques. It is expected to improve the quality of therapeutics, saving a significant portion of the physician’s time and cost. In addition, using the new technique, particularly in Macular procedures, is expected to eliminate the risk of partial blindness from misguided laser burns.

Micro Components Ltd. (MCS), an Israeli company with rich experience in semiconductor packaging technologies, and California-based Flextronics, a leading electronics design and manufacturing service provider, will jointly develop an advanced Flip Chip (FC) Ball Grid Array (BGA) package and a flip chip module. The BGA package is for high-density, fine-pitch, high-pin-count packages. The flip chip module includes CSP, flip chip, 0201 on RF, and Baseband module applications. The objective of the project is to develop the capability for design and manufacturing and to start marketing a superior, highly complex package for FC silicon dies and flip-chip modules for various applications. Flextronics has developed a system-level interconnect solution that addresses the electronics industry’s need for a high-performance, more reliable, and cost-effective interconnect solution.

In June 2013, scientists Dr. Segev Barak of Tel Aviv University and Professors Dorit Ron and Patrician Janak of the University of California, San Francisco, published findings from their study on brain pathways linked to alcohol cravings. The authors were able to identify and deactivate a brain pathway in lab rats that prevented the rodents from seeking alcohol and drinking it. Although the research was conducted in lab animals, the authors believe it is quite possible that similar studies will soon test the same treatment strategy in humans and that the study paves the way for the treatment of other addictions, including tobacco.

“One of the main causes of relapse is craving, triggered in the memory by certain cues - like going into a bar, or the smell or taste of alcohol,” said Barak, the lead author. “What we learned is that when rats were exposed to the smell or taste of alcohol there was a small window of opportunity to target the area of the brain that reconsolidates the memory of the craving for alcohol and to weaken or erase the memory - and thus the craving.”

California began experiencing worsening drought conditions in 2013, after a slight recovery from the 2006 to 2011 drought. Israeli company IDE Technologies has established a water desalination facility in San Diego to help combat this recurring drought. Able to produce 7-10% of the San Diego area’s freshwater needs, this plant will produce upwards of 50 million gallons of drinkable water per day. This project had been in development since 1998, with a feasibility study conducted in 2000 and building permits for the facility preliminarily approved in 2002. It is estimated that this water will cost approximately twice as much as the water imported from Northern California and the Colorado River.

In 2021, Google and Tel Aviv University launched a three-year program to promote AI-related multidisciplinary research to address global social, economic, and environmental challenges. Google will fund seven projects, and the TAU Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science will support three. Some of the approved projects include using AI to decipher ancient scripts, studying mother-child interactions to identify communication and behavioral patterns, and examining fish behavior.

The idea is to bring AI researchers together with social sciences and humanities researchers so they can benefit from one another and build “bridges” between disciplines, said TAU president Prof. Ariel Porat.

On April 20, 2021, a binational team of U.S. and Israeli archaeologists inaugurated the joint University of Haifa-University of California San Diego Marine Archaeology Research Station in Akko.

“We are joining an international community of excellence in the exploration and research of submerged cultural heritage around the world,” explained UC San Diego Department of Anthropology distinguished professor Thomas E. Levy. “Our Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology (SCMA) vision is to examine climate, environmental and cultural change in the connected ancient world, stretching from the Mediterranean world to India and China.”

“This is the culmination of a most fruitful collaboration in the field of underwater and coastal archaeology,” said University of Haifa professor Assaf Yasur-Landau, who directs the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies. “Our partnership combines decades of experience in underwater archaeology in the Recanati Institute with the world-leading oceanography at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.”

Agriculture Benefits

In 1978, the United States and Israel jointly established the Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) to support programs by U.S. and Israeli scientists for mutually beneficial, mission-oriented, strategic, and applied research on agricultural problems. Since its inception, BARD has awarded more than $130 million to U.S. institutions for 1,352 joint projects. A 40-year review in 2019, based on 20 case studies, estimated the foundation’s contribution to the U.S. economy at $2.7 billion. BARD research has resulted in the adoption of approximately 200 new agricultural practices, around 40 commercial engagements, and approximately 100 patents and breeding rights licenses.

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 administers 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 more than $500 million in sales, more than $100 million in tax revenue, and created more than 5,000 American jobs.

Seventeen California institutions, including every University of California campus, Stanford, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department, have received 277 BARD grants worth nearly $27 million.

Through a grant from BARD, Joseph Smilanick, a researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture stationed in California, collaborated with the research wing of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture to find more effective storage and treatment options for harvested grapes. The ethanol-based formula they created reduces the risk that grapes will harbor pathogens, such as E. coli, that could affect their safety and potentially harm consumers.

This BARD-supported research is critical to the economies of both Israel and California, where the grape crop has a wholesale value of nearly $1.5 billion. In both places, farmers are already using these new techniques to harvest and keep produce fresh. Mr. Smilanick was impressed by the success of the BARD collaboration and administration and has already submitted a proposal for additional BARD grants.

In a separate BARD-funded program, Michael E. Adams, a professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of California, Riverside, collaborated with a group of scientists from Pennsylvania, Washington, and Israel on a BARD-sponsored project that examined the production of non-hazardous insecticides. The group’s work is not yet complete, though they have made significant progress toward developing a new class of insecticides that are highly effective, non-toxic to animals and humans, and environmentally friendly; research that has generated considerable interest worldwide.

This research has been ongoing for nearly two decades, and as it is critical to the farming industry in both the U.S. and Israel, BARD continues to support the project. With increased insecticide use by farmers across both countries, pollutant levels are rising and, ironically, insect resistance to these agents is increasing. The insecticide the scientists are developing will neutralize these harmful effects.

Carol Lauzon, a professor at California State University, received a BARD grant to collaborate with a research team at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to study the relationship between the Mediterranean fruit fly- a major agricultural pest - and the bacteria it carries in its gut. The fruit fly and its destructive bacteria are believed to cause up to $1 billion in annual losses to the global farming industry. The BARD-funded researchers aim to identify an improved method for controlling pests and to develop a technique to prevent bacterial damage to fruit crops.

Prof. Amir Sagi (Ben-Gurion University) and Dr. Simi Weil, in collaboration with Dr. Rivka Ofir (Arava R&D Center) and Dr. Nitin Nitin (UC Davis), received a three-year grant to develop the infrastructure for cultured seafood on plant-based substrates. The project addresses the growing need for sustainable protein sources by producing lab-grown shrimp meat, reducing reliance on fishing and aquaculture, and minimizing environmental impacts.

Other Cooperative Programs

Two California corporations, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace and Silicon Graphics Inc., have received grants from the U.S.-Israel Science & Technology Commission. The former received $100,000 for a feasibility study conducted with the Weizmann Institute/Yeda on developing a high-efficiency, modular solar central receiver. The latter involved a joint project with Elbit to produce ultrasound imaging systems.

Researchers Naama Goren-Inbar from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Kenneth Verosub from the University of California, Davis, uncovered the remains of a 1.4-million-year-old prehistoric man at the Ubeidiya site in the Jordan Rift Valley. Goren-Inbar used the Paleomagnetic method, with the help of Professor Verosub and the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, to determine the age of the Benot Yaa’qov area. It is approximately 750,000 years old.

Sister Cities

Desert Hot Springs	Yerucham
Fresno	Afula
Lancaster	Beit-Shemesh
Los Angeles	Eilat
Los Angeles	Jerusalem
San Bernadino	Herzliya
San Francisco	Haifa

UJA Partnership 2000 Communities

San Francisco	Galilee Panhandle
East Bay (Oakland)	Kiryat Malachi- Hof Ashkelon
Long Beach	Kiryat Malachi- Hof Ashkelon
Orange County	Kiryat Malachi- Hof Ashkelon
Sacramento	Kiryat Malachi- Hof Ashkelon
San Diego	Kiryat Malachi- Hof Ashkelon
San Jose	Kiryat Malachi- Hof Ashkelon
Ventura	Kiryat Malachi- Hof Ashkelon

State Contacts

Hillel Campus Profiles

AIPAC 6310 San Vicente Blvd., #240 Los Angeles, CA 90048 Tel. 323-937-1184 Fax. 323-937-8949	Government of Israel Economic Mission 2350 Mission College Blvd., #365 Santa Clara, CA 95054 Tel. 408-970-9293 Fax. 408-970-9298 Email. 102223.1656@compuserve.com	Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay 300 Grand Avenue Oakland, CA 94610 Tel. 510-839-2900 Fax. 510-839-3996 Web. www.jfed.org	Jewish Federation 22622 Vanowen St Canoga Park, CA 91307-2646 Tel. 818-587-3200	Jewish Federation of Sacramento 2351 Wyda Way Sacramento, CA 95825-1160 Tel. 916-486-0906
AIPAC 49 Geary St., #520 San Francisco, CA 94108 Tel. 415-989-4140	Holocaust Center 601 14th Ave San Francisco, CA 94118-3502 Tel. 415-751-6041	Jewish Community Relations Council 401 Grand Ave Oakland, CA 94610-5054 Tel. 510-839-2900	Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles 80 E Hillcrest Dr Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-4218 Tel. 805-496-2649	Jewish Federation of San Diego County 4797 Mercury St. San Diego, CA 92111-2102 Tel. 619-571-3444
BSF Based in Southern California Tel: 310-264-1606	Holocaust Oral History Project P.O. Box 77603 San Francisco, CA 94107 Tel. 415-882-7092	Jewish Community Relations Committee 6505 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048 Tel. 213-852-1234 Fax. 213-651-3250	Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach & West Orange County 3801 East Willow St. Long Beach, CA 90815 Tel. 310-426-7601	Jewish Federation of Santa Barbara 104 W. Anapamu, #A, P.O. Box 90110 Santa Barbara, CA 93190 Tel. 805-963-0244
BIRD 2350 Mission College Blvd., #365 Santa Clara, CA 95054 Tel. 408-727-6777 Fax. 408-727-6166	Holocaust Center of Northern Calif. 639 14th Ave. San Francisco, CA 94118 Tel. 415-751-6040/1 Fax. 415-751-6735	Jewish Federation 121 Steuart St. San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel. 415-777-0411 Email. info@sfjcf.org Web. www.sfjcf.org	Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose 14855 Oka Rd. Los Gatos, CA 95030 Tel. 408-358-3033	Martyrs Memorial & Museum of the Holocaust 6505 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048 Tel. 213-651-3175 Fax. 213-852-1494
California Trade & Commerce Agency Bldg. 2, Har Hotzvim, P.O. Box 45005 Jerusalem Israel 91450 Tel. 25710199 Fax. 25710713 Email. atidedi@netvision.net.il URL: www.atid-edi.com/california.htm	California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency 1102 Q Street, Suite 6000 Sacramento, CA 95814 Tel: (916) 324-5511 Fax: (916) 324-5791 URL: http://www.tradeca.com	Jewish Federation 6505 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90048-4906 Tel. 213-852-1234	Jewish Federation of Orange County 250 Baker St E Costa Mesa, CA 92626-4500 Tel. 714-755-5555	Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation P.O. Box 3168 Los Angeles, CA 90078-3168 Tel. 800-661-2092 x77814 Web. http://www.vhf.org/
California-Israel Chamber of Commerce 5455 Wilshire Blvd., #707 Los Angeles, CA 90036 Tel. 213-931-4469 Fax. 213-931-4559 Email. info@ca-israelchamber.org	Israeli Consulate 6380 Wilshire Blvd., #700 Los Angeles, CA 90048 Tel. 213-658-7924 Fax. 213-651-0572	Jewish Federation 801 W San Bernardino Rd Covina, CA 91722-3621 Tel. 818-967-3656	Jewish Federation Of Orange County 1385 Warner Ave #-A Tustin, CA 92680-6442 Tel. 714-259-0655	Simon Wiesenthal Center 9760 West Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035 Email. webmaster@wiesenthal.com
FLAME P.O. Box 590359 San Francisco, CA 94159	Israeli Consulate 456 Montgomery St., #2100 San Francisco, CA 94104 Tel. 415-844-7500 Fax. 415-844-7555 Email. sf@israeliconsulate.org URL: http://israelemb.org/sanfran/	Jewish Federation 22410 Palos Verdes Blvd Torrance, CA 90505-2019 Tel. 310-540-2631	Jewish Federation of Palm Springs 255 N El Cielo Rd #-430 Palm Springs, CA 92262-6974 Tel. 619-325-7281

Sources: World Institute for Strategic Economic Research.
Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD).
United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD).
United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF).
Meir Orbach, “Google to invest $25 million over next five years to diversify Israeli tech workforce,” CTECH, (February 20, 2022).
Abigail Klein Leichman, Google, Meta launch programs at Israeli universities, Israel21c, (October 27, 2022).
Nevo Trabelsy, “Nvidia’s path to stunning success runs through Israel,” Globes, (February 26, 2024).
Sharon Wrobel, “Nvidia picks Kiryat Tivon for large R&D campus, bringing tech jobs north,” Times of Israel, (December 18, 2025).

State-to-State Cooperation: California and Israel