Governor Rick Snyder visited Israel on an official trade mission from Saturday, June 15, to Thursday, June 20. The visit was supposed to last nine days, but was cut short, because the governor had to get back Michigan to push a bill to reform and expand Medicaid through the State Senate. 

The official stated purpose of the visit was to “increase bilateral trade and investments, academic cooperation and strengthen Michigan’s relationship with the state of Israel.”  Snyder described Israel as “a start-up, high-tech nation.”  He added that Michigan can build stronger business ties with Israel, especially in the automotive, defense, water technology and research industries.

The governor met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s minister of economy, Naftali Bennet, during his brief trip. He also signed a letter, which would set up a framework for future cooperation between companies in Michigan and Israel. 

Snyder poses with Israeli children during his visit.

“Meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders were highly productive and will continue to foster and strengthen relationships between Michigan and Israel,” Snyder said. “We are working to create new opportunities that are mutually beneficial to our respective businesses and citizens.”

Snyder was a guest at the celebration of Israeli President Shimon Peres’ 90th birthday, which was attended by many world leaders and celebrities.

The visit to Israel marked Snyder’s fifth trade mission since he has taken office. He has previously led State delegations to Canada, China, Germany, Korea and Japan. 

Snyder hurried back to Michigan in the early hours of Thursday, June 20, to persuade State Senators from his own Republican party to agree to the expansion of Medicaid to 470,000 more low-income residents of Michigan.   

Despite the local Arab American community’s opinions of Israel and disappointment in Snyder’s trip, no Arab American organization publicly questioned, or criticized the governor’s visit to the Zionist State. 

Patrick Higgins, a Michigan journalist and a master’s student at the University of Texas, Austin’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, who visited Palestine’s occupied West Bank in April, blasted Snyder’s visit to Israel.

“Here Rick Snyder is doing the standard U.S. politics, which is to say carrying on, as if support for Israel should be treated as axiomatic,” Higgins said. “The governor says flippantly that he wants to cooperate with the Israeli water and defense industries. It’s important to remember that these industries play an essential role in maintaining what is, by any definition, an illegal occupation.”