This Michigan Group Hopes to Strengthen US Business Ties to Israel
By Andrew Lapin
October 18, 2026
Never miss a story! The Forward's daily newsletter gives you the most essential Jewish news you need to start your day. Sign up here.
(JTA) — DETROIT — On paper, they were all competitors: Dozens of regional groups, many funded by their respective local governments, each one hoping to recruit Israeli businesses to grow their own economies.
But this week in Michigan, at the first-ever U.S.-Israel Innovation Exchange Summit, they all united with the common goal of promoting broader American business ties with Israel, in a political climate in which scaling back support for Israel is moving into the mainstream.
By conference’s end, the attendees had signed a memorandum of understanding pledging “to establish a framework for cooperation, information sharing, relationship development, and coordinated activities designed to strengthen economic, innovation, investment, and commercial relationships between the United States and Israel.”
The collaboration made sense to the Israeli officials on hand.
"So many states want Israeli businesses to come to their territory, because they understand that will lead economic growth in their state," Elad Strohmayer, consul general of Israel to the Midwest, told JTA at the summit on Wednesday. "That’s the win-win that we’re trying to promote."
U.S. as a Dream Destination
Sorry to interrupt...
You can help keep the Forward free for the 1.5 million readers who visit our site monthly looking for trusted Jewish journalism.
ONE-TIME MONTHLY $18 $36 Other SUPPORT OUR WORK
The U.S. is also a dream destination for many Israeli businesses, he said. "If you’re an Israeli entrepreneur and you want to expand, the market in Israel is limited. Where do you want to expand? Of course, it’s the United States."
After decades of largely unfettered growth in the U.S.-Israel business relationship, cracks are forming in several places. As the Michigan conference was unfolding, New York City’s Jewish and pro-Israel comptroller, Mark Levine, announced he would stop buying Israel bonds, citing the country’s declining credit ratings following the war in Gaza. Anti-Zionist groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace, trumpeted the move as a victory for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, though Levine has denied that politics played a role.
Around 50 people had gathered from across the country and Israel for the summit, which organizers hope to become an annual event. In so doing, they seek to turn the tide on a trend that concerns many in the pro-Israel community: increased scrutiny, and protest, of American business ties to the country.
"This is, I think, a long time coming," said Mark Davidoff, CEO of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator. "There’s a genuine desire to find new approaches, to find new ways to make this relationship even stronger."