(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Dr. Frank Musmar - The U.S. and Israel have a mutually beneficial relationship that provides America with a high return on its annual $3.8 billion investment. More than $150 billion was invested by Israeli companies in the U.S. between 2010 and 2015 ($25.1 billion in 2015 alone). Critical components of leading American high-tech products are invented and designed in Israel, making the American companies that manufacture those products more competitive and profitable. Cisco, Intel, Motorola, Applied Materials, and HP are just a few examples. The U.S.-Israeli economic and commercial relationship now encompasses IT, biotech, life sciences, health care solutions, energy, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, defense industries, cyber-security, aviation, desalination, recycling, conservation, management, and irrigation. U.S. firms established 2/3 of the 300 foreign-invested research and development centers in Israel. Israeli firms represent the second-largest source of foreign listings on the NASDAQ after China, and more than Indian, Japanese, and South Korean firms combined. Strategically, Israel is an American beachhead in the Middle East and the only stable, reliable, capable, democratic, and unconditional regional ally of the U.S., and it is willing to flex its muscles. Both nations gain from a strong strategic partnership, which draws in part upon Israel's capabilities in designing advanced military, homeland security, counterterrorism, and cyber-protection technologies that help the U.S. meet its growing security challenges. Israel is a cost-effective, battle-tested laboratory for U.S. defense industries, and it provides the U.S. with more intelligence than all the NATO countries put together. The writer is a non-resident research associate at the BESA Center.
2020-05-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive