Hello everyone and welcome back after a very exciting and historic weekend!

I want to take advantage of these unique times and talk about the history of the relationship between Israel and the United States of America.

The two countries have had a long and meaningful relationship throughout the 68 years of Israel’s young life. Many of the U.S. presidents have seen Israel as an asset in the Middle East. As the only western democracy in the Middle East, Israel is a very developed young country that has a lot to offer as an ally to the United States.

For example, in 1985, Israel and the United States signed the Free Trade Agreement, eliminating duty on all goods. The two countries can trade products more freely which strengthened the relationship.

The United States has also been an important ally for Israel’s security starting in the 60’s and going strong. During the Yom Kippur war in 1973, the United States supplied Israel with arms and ammunition as part of the military supplies airlift operation to Israel. In the Gulf War, the United States sent Patriot missiles to Israel to help protect its people.

The most famous collaboration between the Israeli army and the United States is the building of the Iron Dome to help protect the citizens of Israel from missiles coming from the Gaza Strip into the southern part of the country. The Iron Dome is an advanced rocket defense systems that has help save countless of lives during the last six years.

The most recent agreement, the bipartisan military package assistance, helped Israel strengthen its defenses. One of most important things about this agreement, and one that shows the beneficial relations between the United States and Israel, is the fact that Israel will buy ammunition and weapons from American based companies such as Lockheed Martin; which helps to create more jobs for American workers thus helping the U.S. economy.

However, this assistance is not one sided; Israel also does its best to assist the United States when it can. A good example is the assistance that Israel gave to California during its drought years. Due to Israel’s harsh climate, it has acquired a lot of knowledge about how to handle such hard times and was able to share water solutions and agricultural solutions that helped California.

Another example of the strong connections between Israel and the United States is the collaboration between NASA and the Israeli air force including sending Ilan Ramon (z”l) on the Columbia space shuttle to the ISS.

Of course, everyone know about the strong Jewish community relationships and the beautiful working relations between Michigan and its partner regions.

Let us hope together that all of these beautiful collaborations between the United States and Israel will continue.

This week’s Hebrew word of the week is:
Collaborations – שיתוף פעולה – Shituf Peula

Have more questions? Email me at or.hmdetroit@gmail.com.
Until next time…
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