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By Itzhak Rabihiya

650 Israel-loving businessmen from fifty countries around the world including the US, Europe, China, India and more, will come to Israel to seek business opportunities and attend a conference on "Israeli Innovation for Humanity" held by ARISE, in cooperation with the Israel Export Institute, the Israel Federation of Bi-National Chambers of Commerce, the Israel Manufacturers Association and the Israel Innovation Institute. The conference will take place on December 4, 2019, in Rishon Lezion.

The purpose of the conference is to connect businessmen from all over the world to businesses in Israel and to showcase the marvels of the Israeli economy, technology, innovation and startups, especially those that improve the quality of life and that offer practical solutions to current challenges in the field of health, agriculture, education, transport and more.

The conference is initiated by ARISE, which aims to match pro-Israeli businessmen from abroad to business entrepreneurs in Israel. Attorney Calev Myers, Founder and President of the organization, has been at the forefront of the fight against BDS for years, said similar conferences held by the organization in the past have led to many millions of dollars worth of business collaborations between Israelis and foreign businessmen. According to him, the appropriate Zionist response to the BDS movement is to promote trade and commerce with Israel.

Myers emphasizes that ARISE and its team are making great efforts to bring business delegations to Israel. So far, 650 businessmen, including members of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) from 50 countries, a delegation of American businessmen from the "OCEAN" network in Cincinnati, a delegation of businessmen from the "Karunya" network in India, a delegation of corporate executives from the CEO Forum, and others, have promised to attend the conference. Most of the participants are Israel-loving Christians who run small, medium, large and very large businesses.  Some manage huge companies with billions in annual revenues and see the conference as an opportunity for potential investment in Israeli companies, businesses and technologies.

Among the attendees at this year's conference will be the famous American baseball player Albert Pujols and his wife Deidre. Pujols, 39, a native of the Dominican Republic, has spent most of his life in Los Angeles and as a businessman and successful entrepreneur was a founding partner of ARISE.

The conference will be held on December 4, 2019 starting at 8:30 am at the Lago Events Hall in Rishon Lezion, under the title of “2019 ARISE Business Matchmaking Summit”, (http://arisesummit.com/). During the conference, a shark-tank business competition will take place, during which a number of Israeli companies and businesses will present their products for 5 minutes, followed by another 5 minutes questions and answers by a panel of judges consisting of experienced and successful business people. Following the presentation of the products by the competing companies, a crowd vote will be held (through a crowd-voting app) and the product chosen by the majority will receive a $10,000 grant from ARISE. The participating businesses will showcase their products at stands in the lobby. After a morning of lectures,  the afternoon (between 14:00 and 17:00), will be devoted to hundreds of Business to  Business meetings between Israeli businessmen and businessmen from abroad.

Attorney Nir Kimhi, Co-Director of the Yehuda Raveh & Co. Law Offices, and one of the organizers of the conference, said that conference guests, businessmen and investment fund managers from around the world, most of them Evangelical Christians, will be arriving in Israel as early as December, and will tour the country, prior to the conference, to get a closer look at Israeli businesses and startups. According to Kimhi, the pulsing heart of the conference will be the matchmaking between overseas businessmen and business owners in Israel and the creation of personal business relationships to facilitate the sale of products and technologies and to promote business collaborations. The conference has already set up more than 300 meetings between guests from abroad and Israeli businessmen to create significant long-term investment opportunities.