Thirty-five Cleveland area business and civic leaders visited Israel April 22-30. The delegation continued the tradition established by Michael Siegal more than 20 years ago of bringing an Ohio business delegation to Israel composed of Jewish and Christian leaders, and institutional investors of Israel bonds.
 

Gathering for a group photo in Jaffa with the Tel Aviv skyline in the
background

For many attendees, the trip was their first to Israel. The delegation was co-sponsored under the direction of Stephen Hoffman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Thomas Lockshin, Israel Bonds executive director for Ohio and Kentucky, and Isaac Yedid, Cleveland general chairman. 


Cleveland Ceneral Chairman Isaac Yedid at the opening dinner


A visit to Beit She'an to see the famous Roman archaeological site

The delegation was co-chaired by Paul Clark, regional president, PNC Bank and Thomas Adler, senior advisor, Playhouse Square Real Estate Services.

This was the second collaborative delegation to Israel between Israel Bonds Cleveland and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, and the first since 2015.


Gil Cohen, managing director of the Accountant General's Debt Management
Unit,briefs delegates at the King David Hotel

Delegation highlights included:

• Participation in the nationwide observance of Yom HaShoah
• A briefing on Israel’s cutting-edge cyber security industry from Nadav Zafrir, CEO of Team 8
• A discussion with Scott Tobin, CEO of Battery Ventures, on Israel’s start-up/venture capital scene
• A meeting with Dalia Rabin, daughter of the late prime minister, at the Yitzhak Rabin Center
• A briefing at the King David Hotel – site of the founding of the Israel Bond program – from Gil Cohen, managing director, Government Debt Management Unit of the Accountant General
• Paying homage to the victims of the Holocaust at Yad Vashem and welcoming Shabbat at the Western Wall