Governor David Ige and an Israeli consulate-general today signed a “historic” agreement to share technology that could help Hawaii with desalination, generating water from “thin air”, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
In return, Israel could learn techniques from Hawaii to protect its marine environments in the Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee and Red Sea, along with ways to conserve other natural habitats, said Consul General Hillel Newman of the Israeli Consulate General in Los Angeles.
The memorandum of understanding calls for “collaborative research” on a wide range of common concerns such as water, agriculture, food security, sea level rise, marine science and alternative energies.
The University of Hawaii is already collaborating with Israel on research, but the agreement could result in Israeli researchers and companies in Hawaii, Newman said at a news conference in Ige’s ballroom, which was attended by former Gov. Linda Lingle, Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth, and UH attended by President David Lassner, who served as a shepherd in Israel in his 20s.
Ige opened the press conference with “Aloha and Shalom” and Newman began his remarks with “Shalom and Aloha”.
Ige and Newman spoke separately about the similarities between Hawaii and Israel, and Newman coined a new phrase: “shaloha.”
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