About the Foundation

The United States Israel Science and Technology Commission

A Binational Initiative For Promoting Cooperation

In March 1993, President Clinton and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin announced their intention to create the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission (USISTC). A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two nations and each government committed $15 million to support the activities of the Commission.

The Commission is a unique government-to- government program launched and endorsed at the Presidential and Prime Ministerial level. The Commission engages the interest of highly influential political and business leaders in the U.S. and Israel.

Today, the USISTC provides a forum for promoting bi-national collaboration at the highest levels of government and industry. Its mission is to maximize the contribution of technology to economic growth, leveraging the U.S. and Israel’s exceptional science-skilled resources. The Commission has established several strategic panels that work to encourage high added-value R&D and enhance the knowledge base of the U.S. and Israeli high-tech industries, in addition to facilitating joint ventures linking Israeli innovation and entrepreneurship with American technological and marketing leadership.

An effort toward regulatory harmonization initiated by the Commission’s strategic panels over the last several years is helping Israel become a more inviting place for American investment and joint ventures. Sectors currently being stressed include Information Technology and Biotechnology as well as Harmonization of Standards and Regulations.

Acting as a catalyst to develop a seamless work environment for conducting business, the Commission’s strategic activity in recent years is helping Israel become a more inviting place for American investment through joint private sector partnering. Currently, the Commission is focused on Information Technology, Biotechnology, Homeland Security and Nanotechnology.

Learn more about the USISTC Commissioners as well as the USISTC's relationships with the U.S.Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security and the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade.