24 | JANUARY 9 • 2020
Jews in the D
STATE OF MICHIGAN
Jocelyn Benson on Her
Recent Trip To Israel
S
ecretary of State Jocelyn
Benson spoke with the JN
about the recent trip she
took to Israel Dec. 15-20 as a
part of a bipartisan delegation
of Secretary of
State participants.
The Israel
trip was orga-
nized by Project
Interchange, a
program of the
American Jewish Committee,
in partnership with the local
JCRC/AJC. She said Project
Interchange ensured they saw
and understood different per-
spectives.
“Those are relationships
that will bear lots of fruit for
years to come,” she said. “I felt
like I learned a new language
while I was there by gaining
an in-depth understanding
of the history with economic
leaders, military leaders, polit-
ical leaders and thought lead-
ers. It was truly a wonderful,
life-changing experience.
“It’
s certainly undeniable
that being over there gives you
a sense of exactly why the U.S.
role in this region is so histor-
ic and necessary,” she said.
JN: Were there any Detroit-
or Michigan-based angles to
your trip?
Benson: Yes, the number
of people I met who have a
connection to Michigan, were
from Michigan and who have
family in Michigan, from both
the Palestinian and Israeli
communities, was astounding.
Our tour guide from the Peres
Center for Innovation was
from Ludington.
The relationship Michigan
has with Israel and the history
there is parallel and very anal-
ogous to what our country has
with Israel. It’
s no coincidence
I’
m not the only Michigan
political leader who has visited
Israel in the past few months.
That’
s reflective of the ties
within Michigan. Michigan’
s
presence is known there. The
relationship is very clear.
I would not be surprised if
there was a direct flight from
Detroit to Tel Aviv with all
the travel and connections
between the two areas and
regions.
JN: How did Israeli innova-
tion play into the trip?
Benson: What I saw in
Israel is the power of for-
ward-thinking. We went to
the Peres Center and I was
really astounded by how the
government investment, atten-
tion and focus on innovation,
as was led by Peres, has really
and can really [further inno-
vation]. And frankly, [inno-
vation] is really necessary to
position any city, state, region
and country as an econom-
ic influence — if not global
superpower.
That focus on innovation,
that focus on creating jobs
through empowering others
to be innovative and create
businesses supporting small
business … all of that is
something we need from our
state leaders and we need
from our federal leaders
to position our country to
have the influence it has had
throughout its history.
ADAM FINKEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Benson
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
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