NEAR EAST REPORT AIPAC'S BIWEEKLY ON AMERICAN MIDDLE EAST POLICY
A state with little rainfall, New Mexico faces many of the same water conservation challenges that Israel does.
Israeli-pioneered drip irrigation has helped farmers worldwide conserve water. The technology is particularly useful in dry places such as New Mexico.
State to State: New Mexico and Israel
Over the coming months, Near East Report will examine how individual U.S. states help strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship and benefit from the Jewish state’s innovations.
The people of New Mexico face the same challenge confronting all desert communities—too many people and too little water. With an average annual rainfall of only 8.9 inches and limited natural resources, New Mexico struggles to meet the water demand required by its two million residents.
The state has found a natural ally in a tiny desert country in the Middle East: Israel. The Jewish state is a world leader in water conservation. It recycles a staggering 80 percent of its water. By comparison, New Mexico, a U.S. state on the forefront of water management, recycles only four percent of its water.
While the two states are more than 7,000 miles apart, Israeli and New Mexican government and business leaders came together last February in Albuquerque for a symposium on clean water and natural resource management.
Roee Madai, Israel's Consul for Economic Affairs, praised his country’s relationship with New Mexico. "We have natural synergy and great similarity in vital and immediate need for clean energy and water technology,” Madai said. He added that New Mexico is a “prime location for collaboration and cooperative ventures.”
New Mexico is home to a tiny Jewish community—less than one percent of the state’s total population. It is common interests and goals, rather than family or cultural ties, that have brought the two states together.
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A Trading Partner
In 2008, New Mexican businesses exported over $27 million in goods to Israel; the total value of exports since 1996 exceeds $490 million. In recent years, New Mexico has also expanded its direct investment in Israel, purchasing a combined total of $15 million in Israel bonds. Israel is now New Mexico's 11th leading international trading partner—a remarkable ranking given that Israel only has about seven million people.
“I'm proud that my state has invested heavily in Israel's economy,” said then-New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson during his presidential run. The state’s investments have paid dividends.
New Mexico businesses and institutions have profited from their state’s expanded trading partnership with Israel. For example, the Albuquerque-based Lumidigm Inc., a multi-spectral imaging biometrics company, and the Israel-based BioGuard Components and Technologies Ltd. have inked a multi-million dollar contract to produce biometric security sensors. The devices include fingerprinting and other scanning devices used to protect and secure government and commercial facilities around the world.
New Mexico education centers have also benefitted by receiving millions of dollars for joint U.S.-Israeli agriculture and technology research grants.
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Formalizing New Mexico-Israel Ties
During a 2008 trip to Israel, Gov. Richardson signed a letter of agreement formalizing efforts to promote trade between his state and Israel. New Mexico is one of 20 states with a trade office in Israel.
The deep ties extend to New Mexico’s urban centers. The state’s largest city, Albuquerque, is a sister city with Rehovot, an Israeli city of more than 100,000 people.
Both cities are home to major academic and research institutions and stand at the center of their respective state’s technology booms. The partnership between them expands opportunities for business-to-business contacts and, ultimately, could provide a platform for additional investment and trade between Israel and New Mexico.
For more information on the relationship between Israel and New Mexico, visit the Jewish Virtual Library.
