North Dakota Jewish History
Trade & Population Statistics
Binational Foundation Grants
Bilateral Institutions
Anti-Boycott Law
Cooperative Agreements
Government Missions to Israel
Partners for Change
Other Cooperative Programs
Sister Cities & State Contacts

Trade and Population Statistics

Exports to Israel (2024)	$5,631,721
Percentage Change (2023-2024)	-19.12%
Total Exports to Israel (1996-Present)	$99,076,051
Israel’s Trade Partner Rank (2024)	30
North Dakota’s Rank as Exporter to Israel (2024)	49
Military Contracts with Israel (2015)	$0
Jewish Population (2024)	910
Jewish Percentage of Population	0.12%

Binational Foundation Grants

Agricultural Research & Development (1979-Present)	$0
Science & Technology (1999-Present)	$0
Industrial Research & Development (1977-Present)	$0
Total Binational Grants	$0

Grant Recipients in North Dakota from U.S.-Israel Binational Foundations

University of North Dakota Medical School

Bilateral Institutions

None. Help us build this section. Email us with any updates, additions, corrections, or comments. We appreciate your support!

Anti-Boycott Law

Adopted in April 2023, the North Dakota statute says the state may not adopt any investment policy that would have the effect of requiring or inducing any person to boycott Israel.

Cooperative Agreements

In May 2008, Dr. Gerald Groenewold, Director of the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota, announced the development of a long-term partnership between the EERC and Israel to address critical energy security issues facing both Israel and the United States. The partnership comes on the heels of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Department of Energy and the Interdisciplinary Center at Herzliya in Israel for cooperation on various energy topics. The MOU enables cooperation in carbon management technologies, water resource stewardship in power production, alternative fuels development, development of hydrogen and fuel cells, power grid efficiency and reliability, hybrid energy systems, and advanced materials for energy systems, all of which the EERC has expertise in.

North Dakota Government Missions to Israel

None. Help us build this section. Email us with any updates, additions, corrections or comments. We appreciate your support!

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, technology, education, and health. States can benefit from Israeli innovations in these areas as well as through collaboration.

In addition, today’s interdependent global economy requires that trade policy be developed at the national and state level. Many states have recognized the opportunity to realize significant benefits by seeking to increase trade with Israel. North Dakota is one of 33 states that have cooperative agreements with Israel.

In 2024, North Dakota exported more than $5.6 million worth of manufacturing goods to Israel. Since 1996, North Dakota’s exports to Israel have totaled more than $99 million, and Israel now ranks as North Dakota’s 30th leading trade partner. North Dakota ranks 49th among all states in exports to Israel.

To date, North Dakota companies have not received any foreign military financing (FMF) to provide materiel for the Israeli Defense Forces.

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 North Dakota.

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. The program is designed to help students achieve reading fluency and is mostly used for children in second grade. The hope is that with its implementation, increasing numbers of students will perform at grade level or above.

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 for the benefit of North Dakota is limited only by the imagination.

North Dakota 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, because of the deep pool of talent, particularly in high-technology areas, Israel provides excellent investment opportunities. Some of the nation's largest companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, Intel, and McDonald’s, have found that it is indeed profitable to do business in Israel.

One good 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). 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 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 the extreme success of BIRD has led Israel to adopt similar models of R&D with other countries.

As of yet, no North Dakota companies have taken advantage of the opportunity to reduce the risk of new ventures and tap into the deep pool of Israeli talent through the BIRD program.

Scientific Innovations

Researchers across the United States are making scientific breakthroughs and developing cutting-edge technologies in joint projects with Israeli scientists thanks to support from 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 in a wide area of basic and applied scientific fields for peaceful and non-profit purposes.

Since its inception, and in today’s value, BSF has awarded over $700 million to more than 5,000 research projects involving thousands of scientists from more than 400 U.S. institutions located in 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 U.S.-Israel partnership through science and promoting world-class scientific research for the benefit of the two countries and all mankind. 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 no less than 75 new discoveries made possible by its research grants and counts 37 Nobel Prize, and 19 Lasker Medical Award laureates among its joint partners.

Currently, no North Dakota institutions have taken advantage of the BSF grants.

Agriculture Benefits

In 1978, the United States and Israel jointly created the Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) to help fund programs between U.S. and Israeli scientists for mutually beneficial, mission-oriented, strategic, and applied research into 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 involving 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 sales of more than $500 million, tax revenues of more than $100 million, and created more than 5,000 American jobs.

Here too, there are no North Dakota institutions that have taken advantage of the opportunities presented by BARD for joint agricultural research projects.

Other Cooperative Programs

None. Help us build this section. Email us with any updates, additions, corrections, or comments. We appreciate your support!

Sister Cities

None.

State Contacts

Hillel Campus Profiles

American-Israel Chamber of Commerce {also covers North Dakota)
6311 Wayzata Blvd., #240
Minneapolis, MN 55416-1224
Tel. 612-593-8666
Fax. 612-593-8668
Email. info@aiccmn.org
Web. http://www.aiccmn.org

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).

State-to-State Cooperation: North Dakota and Israel