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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Glenn Triest, Benyas-Kau man

Shelly Jackier and Jane Sherman, of
the Michigan branch of the
American-Israel Chamber of Commerce
and Industry.

Friday, October 4, 1985

15

business community are unaware
that the Chamber even exists, ac-
cording to Jackier. But with large,
multi-national firms like Ex-Cell-0,
National Bank of Detroit and
Touche Ross and Co. serving as co-
sponsors for the seminar, that prob-
lem may be on its way to being
solved.
As high as the hopes are for
Wednesday's conference, neither
Sherman nor Jackier see American
business investment in Israel
supplanting more traditional means
of fundraising. "This conference and
the chamber do not take the place of
raising money for social needs," says
Sherman, who has long been active
in Detroit-area United Jewish Ap-
peal campaigns.
"There is still a great need for
the UJA. The mere existence of the
Free Trade Agreement is not going
to take away Israel's trade deficit
and it's not going to rectify the coun-
try's structural economic problems.
Increased American involvement in
the Israel economy — JewiSh and
non-Jewish — will, in the future,
help put the country on better eco-
nomic footing. But it's not a shortcut
solution to their problems."
And although it wouldn't seem
like it, coaxing someone to get fi-
nancially involved when they them-
selves stand to profit from the ven-
ture is often more difficult than ask-
ing for a simple donation, Sherman
says. "It's much tougher to get men
and women to invest in Israel for
business\ purposes. They really have
to be convinced that they are going
to get a good return to their invest-
ment."

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