By: Shimmy Blum�

The event hall at the prestigious King David Hotel in�Yerushalayim�was upbeat on Wednesday�evening, as approximately one hundred business leaders, elected officials and community leaders�gathered for a VIP networking dinner hosted by the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce�s�U.S.-Israel Business Alliance mission. The mission�s leading participant, former governor and�presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, sat at the head table flanked by Jewish Chamber�Executive Public Policy Committee members Dr. Joseph�Frager, Dr. Paul Brody,�Odeleya�Jacobs�and�Duvi�Honig, and prominent Israeli elected officials.
Duvi�Honig�commenced the event, marveling at the many high level guests in attendance,�including several who traveled from the U.S. for the dinner alone.��We think big,� he exclaimed.��We are uniting Jewish community businesses at a global level.�

The dinner epitomized the goal of the Jewish Chamber and this mission to Israel, which is�focusing on networking Jewish communal and economic powerhouses to advance economic�success within the U.S. and Israel, and between the two countries.
A prominent young businessman, Michael Eisenberg of Aleph Venture Capital, shared the story�of his grandfather who received an untraceable wire transfer of $70,000 to his American bank�account during the 1940s. He put the money aside for years, until it was claimed by a European�Holocaust survivor after the war. �Business and relationships are based on trust,� Mr. Eisenberg�summed up. �This is a unique opportunity for people of shared values and commitment to do�business across oceans.�

Notes of Optimism

Knesset members�Zeev�Elkin, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs; Eli Ben-Dahan, Deputy Defense�Minister; Oren Chazzan; Miki Zohar and Bezalel�Smotrich; Consul General in New York Danny�Dayan; and�Efrat�Mayor�Oded�Ravivi�all addressed the gathering. They voiced their disgust at�the recent passage of the anti-Israel UN resolution and the U.S. abstention, and thanked�Governor Huckabee for his unflinching support at this trying time.

The Israeli officials voiced optimism that the incoming Trump administration will be far�friendlier to Israel. A beautiful �Trump-Pence Make America Great Again� cake emblazoned�with the U.S. Embassy seal, and American and�Yerushalayimflags, adorned the head table. The�fervor and optimism ahead of Mr. Trump�s upcoming inauguration was high. �When the world�will see that there is no daylight between the U.S. and Israel,� Consul General Dayan predicted,��the world will get the message. It will be a new era.�

Dr.�Frager�noted that the dinner celebrated in addition the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification�of�Yerushalayim, and heralded Governor Huckabee�s ability to cut through anti-Israel media bias�to defend the Jewish State. �We have to develop more Mike�Huckabees,� he quipped.

Odeleya�Jacobs stressed the importance of the Jewish Chamber mission to help Jewish�businesses thrive across the globe. �We need to teach people how to fish, rather than just give�them fish,� she explained.

Duvi�Honig�cited the famous dictum of�Dovid�Hamelech�of��Lechu�v�hisparnersu�zu�m�zu�� earn�a living one from another� as a symbol of the power of networking, which the Jewish Chamber�and this mission work towards. �Today the world is so big, but also so small. It is so much easier�for people to network with each other,� he explained.�He expounded upon the relationships that�the Jewish Chamber forged throughout the business world, in Congress, the White House and�within the Trump inner circle, and vowed to utilize this network to help Jewish businesses and�defeat the BDS movement.
�There�s nothing we can�t accomplish if we have pride and fight together,� he exclaimed.

�The Partnership is Deep�

Governor Huckabee, the star of the mission and dinner, spoke last, yet all eyes and ears were�firmly trained upon the podium. The governor spoke at various occasions during this mission,�but this speech was undeniably his most potent one�yet.
The former preacher�s oratory skills shone through as he recounted with emotion the time he first�took his daughter Sarah, then age eleven, on a tour of�Yad�Vashem. After they walked through�exhibits of the horrific events prior to and during the Holocaust, particularly what was done to�Jewish children, Sarah simply wrote in the museum guestbook, �Why didn�t somebody do�something?�
The governor was proud of his young daughter�s insight and how she internalized the�Holocaust�s most important lesson for future generations. Sarah Huckabee is now a senior aide�to President Elect Trump and will serve in his administration.�Her father expressed confidence�that she will be a forceful advocate against evil, particularly those that seek to harm Israel and�the Jewish people.

Governor Huckabee derided the two-state solution as �diplomatic fantasy� and confirmed the�sense in the room that the incoming president will be a strong ally for Israel. �The partnership�between the United States and Israel are deeper than political and economic,� he summed up. �It�is based on the values of what it means to be a human being.�