Recent political developments in the United States, including several closely watched primary elections, have prompted questions among Israeli business leaders about the future of the US-Israel relationship.
In the days following the Senate primary in our home state of Michigan, we’ve been asked outright, “Is Michigan turning away from Israel?”
The concern is understandable, but it mistakes a political headline for the reality of a decades-long economic partnership.
As the leaders of the organization that has spent more than two decades building the bridge between Michigan and Israel, this reading gets the story backward. The economic, technological, and personal relationships that bind our two economies do not rise or fall with any one election cycle.
For decades, Michigan has been one of Israel’s most committed partners, and that relationship has never been defined by who wins a given race. We’ve built ties deliberately, one partnership at a time, with businesses, universities, entrepreneurs, investors, and civic leaders who recognized early that our two economies have complementary strengths.
Michigan is the global capital of mobility innovation, with world-leading depth in automotive and autonomous technology, electrification, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, defense, healthcare, and industrial automation. Those sectors connect directly with Israel’s innovation strengths.
Michigan’s research universities, engineering talent, manufacturing capacity, venture capital base, and concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters give Israeli companies an exceptional gateway to the North American market, just as Michigan-based companies increasingly look to Israel for the next wave of technology and talent.
We see the human side of this relationship every day.
For more than two decades, the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator has served as the trusted bridge between our two innovation ecosystems.
More than 100 Israeli companies have landed in Michigan through initiatives like The Elevator, one of the only landing zones in the United States dedicated to Israeli company growth, while Israeli innovation and activity in Michigan have generated some $45 million in economic activity.
We have facilitated trade missions from Michigan to Israel involving over 200 corporate and community leaders, and connecting thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and public officials along the way.
Introductions become partnerships, and partnerships become investments. And often, investments turn into friendships that outlast whichever administration happens to be in office when they began.
The results are visible on the ground: Israeli technology now runs inside Michigan auto plants and on Michigan farms, powers new EV-charging infrastructure on Detroit streets, and is entering clinical trials with local hospitals.
American federalism guarantees politics stay out of business ties
Those calls were made by leaders in various segments, including manufacturers, utilities, agriculture, finance, and health systems.
There is a basic fact about American federalism that is easy to miss from abroad: individual states function as powerful engines of continuity, sustaining international relationships that outlast the swings of national politics.
Business leaders make decisions based on opportunity, talent, legal certainty, and trusted partners, not on primary results, and Michigan continues to deliver on every one of those measures.
Its rule of law is strong, its universities remain open to Israeli collaboration, its economic development institutions remain committed to international investment, and its private sector remains eager to build.
Israeli executives weighing expansion into North America should meet this moment with perspective rather than hesitation. Political headlines change quickly; business fundamentals change far more slowly.
For companies seeking customers, manufacturing capacity, research partners, or capital, Michigan remains one of the most welcoming and productive environments in the United States, and that has not changed because of one primary result.
The Michigan-Israel relationship has weathered economic cycles, technological revolutions, geopolitical shocks, and changing governments on both sides of the ocean because it rests on mutual benefit, personal trust, and a shared conviction that innovation creates prosperity.
Political rhetoric and media coverage shape public perception, and we don’t dismiss that. But the commercial relationship we work in every day runs on different terms: jobs, capital, research partnerships, and supply chains built over years, not headlines from any single week. Those fundamentals haven’t shifted.
Michigan is not turning away from Israel. If anything, we are more engaged than ever. More companies. More partnerships. More investment. That’s how this relationship has always grown, and that’s how it will continue to grow.
Mark Davidoff is the CEO of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator and president and CEO of The Fisher Group, the family office of Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher. He is also the past chair of the board of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Howard Handler is chair of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator and an enterprise leader, board director, and strategic adviser. He most recently served as president of 313 Presents, Detroit’s premier live entertainment company.
