Aviv Ezra
Aviv Ezra[edit]
Aviv Ezra is an Israeli Diplomat, currently serving as the Consul General of Israel to the Midwest of the United States, based in Chicago.
He is the highest-ranking official representative of the state of Israel in nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Consul General of Israel to the Midwest[edit]
Ezra began his posting in July 2016. During his time as Consul General, he escorted 5 Midwestern Governors on an official mission to Including the Governors of Michigan,[1] Illinois,[2] Wisconsin,[3] Iowa[4] and Indiana.[5] Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer also visited Israel[6] during his term. Each Governor came with a specific niche and focus areas such as Water technology, academic, cyber technology, agriculture and healthcare, among others.
He led joint efforts with the City of Chicago to inaugurate a non-stop flight between Israel and Chicago. In March of the City of Chicago announced that El Al, Israel's national carrier would launch a non-stop route between Tel Aviv and Chicago for the first time in 20 years. The Flight was scheduled to be launched on March 22, 2020, but was postponed and later canceled due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later that year, United Airlines announced it will launch a non-stop route between Tel Aviv and Chicago.[7] The flight was inaugurated on September 9, 2020 and will operates 3 days a week.
Ezra played an instrumental role in the University of Illinois mega development project near Chicago's South Loop named the Discovery Partners Institute(DPI)- a world class innovative research center Illinois-based is preparing people for high-demand jobs while building R&D centers of excellence.[8] In 2017Erza joined Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner visit to Israel. The delegation also included the University of Illinois president, Timothy Killeen. During the visit, Ezra took Rauner and Killeen for a series of meetings with Israel's leading academic institutes.[9] Following those meetings, the DPI leadership announced that the first two international partners of the initiative would be Israel's Tel Aviv University[10] an the Hebrew University[11] who joined as official partners in late 2018, early 2019.
During Indiana's governor Eric Holcomb visit to Israel, Ezra championed a partnership agreement signing between the State of Indiana and Israel's world leading cyber conferences brand, Cybertech [12] that would bring the exclusive cyber conference to Indianapolis in what will be its first appearance in North America, known as Cybertch Midwest. The first two conferences took place in downtown Indiana[polis in 2018 and 2019.[13] The 3rd conference was postponed from its original date of July 2020 to July 2021.[14]
In March 2020 Ezra joined forces with Chicago-based economic development group Kaleidoscope Health Ventures in order to engage Israel's leading hospital, and one of the world's to ranked hospitals,[15] the Sheba Medical Center in a major life sciences innovation center in Chicago's Bronzville Neighborhood, near the City's South Side, to be named the Chicago ARC Innovation Center.[16][17] Sheba's world known expertise in healthcare innovation would help the Chicago ARC to drive economic growth and health equity across the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois.[18] This partnership originates in a than Chicago's Mayor, Rahm Emmanuel delegation to Israel in 2017,[19] which was initiated by an official invitation from Ezra.
Ezra's term as Consul General is also dedicated a major focus to working with African American communities, as part of his consulate's community outreach efforts. One of his major accomplishments is the implementation of the Israeli Trauma and Resiliency Center- NATAL Israel, model for copping with Post Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and building community resiliency, in the Bronzville neighborhood near Chicago's South Side.[20] This project is championed by Pastor Chris Harris, who was exposed to NATAL during a visit to Israel, where he recognized that the Israeli model, normally used to treat Israeli citizens who witnessed acts of terror, could be relevant for his own community, that often deals with high violence rates.[21]
Op-Eds published[edit]
During his term as Consul General, Ezra published 26 Op-Ed in media outlets across the Midwest on various topics:
Other assignments at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs[edit]
Ezra Joined the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1999. Upon the completion of the Ministry prestigious Cadet Course, he served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Middle Eastern Economic Division in Israel.
From 2000 to 2002, he served as the Economic and Commercial Attaché to Cairo, Egypt. Following his service in Egypt, Ezra was appointed Deputy Consul General, for the Southeastern region of the U.S., at the Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta, Georgia, from 2002-2006
From 2008 to 2013, Ezra served as s the Counselor for Congressional Affairs at the Embassy of Israel in Washington D.C.
Prior to his appointment as Consul General, Ezra quarterbacked the relationship of Israel with the United States Congress for a period of 8 years at the Embassy of Israel in Washington DC. In this capacity , Ezra played an instrumental role in establishing and cementing the groundbreaking US-Israel Rocket and Missile Defense Cooperation and Support Act, which authorizes the assistance to Israel for the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.[22]
For the 3 years prior to assuming his post as Consul General, he served as the Director for Congressional Affairs at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.
Prior to service at the MFA[edit]
During his service in the Israel Defense Forces, he achieved the rank of Captain. Following his military service, he received a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
After graduating, Ezra worked for two years in the private sector as COO of a publishing company.
He is married to Einat and has three children.
References[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Former Governors - Gov. Rick Snyder leading delegation to Israel to enhance business ties with Michigan". www.michigan.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
- ↑ "Illinois, Israel Universities Sign 4 Deals". NoCamels. 2017-11-05. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
- ↑ "Governor meets with Israeli prime minister during trade mission in Israel". APG of Wisconsin. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ Aguirre, Joey (2017-06-20). "Iowa Gov. Reynolds will lead trade, investment mission to Israel in September". Clay and Milk. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
- ↑ Governor (2020-10-13). "Israel 2018". Governor. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
- ↑ Finkel, Adam. "Governor Gretchen Whitmer's Trade Mission to Israel — Detroit Jewish News". https://thejewishnews.com/. Retrieved 2021-03-03. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ "United Airlines Further Expands International Schedule: Adds New Service Between Chicago and Tel Aviv". United Hub. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
- ↑ "About". Discovery Partners Institute. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ "JUF News : Gov. Rauner leads delegation of U of I officials, encourages Israeli companies to partner with state universities". JUF News. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ Yordy, Gretchen; Illinois, University of. "Tel Aviv University joins new U of I-led research center". news.uillinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ Yordy, Gretchen; Illinois, University of. "The Hebrew University of Jerusalem joins U of I-led research center". news.uillinois.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ "Indiana to Host Inaugural Cybertech Midwest Event". Midwest Meetings. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ "Cyber Conference Set to Open in Indy". www.insideindianabusiness.com. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ "Cybertech Midwest 2021". midwest.cybertechconference.com. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ Newsweek (2021-02-22). "World's Best Hospitals 2021 - Top 200 Global". Newsweek. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ Roeder, David (2020-03-12). "Israel's Sheba Medical Center to anchor building at Michael Reese site". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ Ventures, Kaleidoscope Health. "P33 and Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, Together With Joint Venture Team Kaleidoscope Health Ventures, Farpoint Development and Israel's Sheba Medical Center, Announce a Signed Deal to Build the First U.S. ARC Innovation Center in Chicago--a Collaborative Innovation Model to Drive Health Equity and Healthcare Transformation". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ Center, Sheba Medical. "Illinois Governor, Israeli Foreign Minister and Sheba Medical Center CEO Partner on the Chicago ARC Innovation Center to Advance Health Equity". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ↑ "Mayor Emanuel and WBC Travel to Israel to Promote Chicago Investment". World Business Chicago. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
- ↑ Ezra, Aviv. "Lessons from Israel could help Chicago deal with effects of gun violence". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
- ↑ "Pastor brings Israeli trauma treatment program to Chicago to help gun violence victims". WGN-TV. 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
- ↑ "United States-Israel Rocket and Missile Defense Cooperation and Support Act (2010 - H.R. 5327)". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
This article "Aviv Ezra" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Aviv Ezra. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
