If Israel is “America’s 51st state,” as some Israelis sometimes joke, then Silicon Valley might be an Israeli settlement. There are so many Israeli high-tech companies, and so many Israeli entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, that it was virtually home turf when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Wednesday at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
Netanyahu appeared alongside California’s left-wing Governor Jerry Brown, who is on the opposite end of the political spectrum but strove to emphasize common ground. One area in common is that both California and Israel are suffering crippling, historic droughts. Netanyahu, however, was bullish about Israel’s world-leading water management capability.
“California doesn’t need to have a water problem,” Netanyahu said, according to the Associated Press. “Israel has no water problems because we are the number one recyclers of waste water, we stop water leaks, we use drip irrigation and desalination.”
That might sound a tad surprising to Israelis who are worried about their water, regardless of technology. Still, it was a message warmly received by Gov. Brown: “Israel has demonstrated how efficient a country can be, and there is a great opportunity for collaboration,” Brown said.
The two leaders signed an agreement to increase trade and investment.
Netanyahu had also visited Los Angeles on Tuesday evening to attend the premiere of a documentary about Israel.
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