Research scientists in Ohio will collaborate with colleagues in Israel in the fight against bioterrorism, according to an agreement signed recently by officials of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio State University and Jerusalem’s Hebrew University. The Cleveland-based Negev Foundation secured a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund the project.
“Israel is a leader in security issues and this was a great opportunity to address measures aimed at deterring agroterrorism,” said Fred Dailey, director of Ohio’s Agriculture Department.
Sam Hoenig, president of the Negev Foundation, said the foundation hopes the research will provide two benefits. It can develop methods of protecting food and agriculture from bioterrorism that can be used around the world, and it can provide increased trade opportunities between Ohio and Israel, he said.
There relationship between Ohio and Israel already is strong, state Sen. Eric Fingerhut said.
Fingerhut, a Democrat, said that in 2003 Israel was Ohio’s 25th largest export market. That put Ohio ahead of Russia, Egypt and New Zealand among Israel’s trading partners.
According to the Ohio Department of Development, the Buckeye State exported more than $100 million of products to Israel in 2003. That was an increase of more than 21 percent from the previous year.
“Over the past three years, a new program of cooperation has emerged between Israel and Ohio in agriculture,” said David Hansen, associate dean and director of international programs in agriculture at Ohio State University, who will lead OSU’s contributions to the research effort
Hansen’s Israeli counterpart, Yitzhak Hadar, is dean of the faculty of agricultural, food and environmental quality sciences at Hebrew University.
Hadar, who brings 20 years of collaborative research experience with OSU to the new enterprise, has warned that terrorists might try to disseminate microtoxins through the world’s food supply.
In a continuing effort to increase trade between Ohio and Israel, Dailey participated in February’s Ohio Feeder Calf Mission to Israel.
Exports of live animals from the United States have been suspended temporarily because of mad cow disease, but Israeli beef buyers will tour Ohio cattle ranches in April.
According to Hoenig, Israel imports between 120,000 to 140,000 head of cattle from Ohio each year.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
