Israeli and American government officials, including US Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz (second from right), visit Israel’s Sorek water desalination plant in April 2016. Photo: US Embassy Tel Aviv.

JNS.org – The US state of Nevada and the state of Israel signed a memorandum of understanding on water-use innovation, marking what is reportedly a first-of-its-kind collaboration agreement between an American state and a Middle East country.

The deal, between Nevada’s WaterStart public-private joint venture and Israel’s National Technological Innovation Authority, was made at Monday’s BusinessH2O Summit, a day-long conference in Las Vegas organized by the US Chamber of Commerce, and paves the way for Israeli water technology companies to eventually set up research and production facilities in the notoriously arid state of Nevada.

“Our private sector needs to partner with water-advanced countries like Israel to adopt new technologies and best practices in water management, which will help create jobs and grow our economy,” said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs for the US Chamber of Commerce, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The Israeli-American Coalition for Action (IAC for Action), a non-profit that advocates to policymakers on behalf of the Israeli-American community, said the memorandum of understanding “provides new opportunities for cooperation that will benefit both Nevada and Israel by broadening and deepening research and development collaboration in the critical area of water management and conservation.”

“From our inception a year ago, the IAC for Action has been engaged in facilitating partnerships between Israel and state and local governments,” said IAC for Action Chairman Shawn Evenhaim. “We will continue to work in Nevada and around the country to strengthen the US-Israel relationship by identifying opportunities for both Americans and Israelis to tap into each other’s tremendous wealth of innovation and expertise.”