Israel, Jerusalem - Sunday April 30, 2023: During his visit to Israel last Thursday Governor DeSantis announced an agreement between Avenger Flight Group, LLC. (AFG), a Fort Lauderdale-based company, and EL AL Israel Airlines.
To reconfirm their engagement, CEO and Founder of AFG Pedro Sors and Sr. Vice President of EL AL Airlines Marc Cavaliere held a signing ceremony during the Governor's afternoon news conference.
AFG has committed to build a next-generation flight training center in Israel with state-of-the-art simulators provided by AFG and EL AL will train all of its 737 and 787 pilots in that training center. EL AL and AFG will jointly operate the flight training center with the benefit of generating tremendous efficiencies in pilot training for EL AL. In addition, EL AL and AFG will be partnering in relation to other airlines training in the training center.
“Today’s announcement between AFG and EL AL is another win for Florida and Israel,” said the Governor. “This partnership will create new high-paying jobs for Floridians and Israelis, further solidify Florida’s partnership with Israel, and create future opportunities for collaboration in the aviation sector. We look forward to the new opportunities this relationship will create and the future growth of both companies.”
Also during his visit to Israel the Governor joined Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI), the Israel Innovation Authority, and the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce (AmCham Israel) as they signed a joint declaration to promote greater cooperation, strategic partnerships, and trade and investment between Israel and Florida.
The joint declaration places a special emphasis on the healthcare industry. The goal of the declaration is to explore and initiate avenues for economic and business collaboration generally and specifically in healthcare.
The collaborations envisioned by the declaration include the creation of one or more health-tech hubs for Israeli health-tech companies, joint research and development programs for Florida and Israeli companies in health-tech, and joint research projects for academic, research and other institutions from both Florida and Israel.
“Florida and Israel have a long-standing partnership, and this joint declaration will allow us to further benefit from increased collaboration,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Israel is an international leader in healthcare innovation, and we are proud to strengthen our partnership that will benefit Floridians and Israelis for generations to come.”
"This joint declaration focuses on the importance of cooperation in healthcare innovation between Florida and Israel, as part of the United States - Israel Healthcare Strategic Collaboration Program," said Oded Rose, CEO, AmCham Israel.
"The ability to develop a drug suitable for a particular population, to ensure its safety, and to prove its efficacy with precision, is paving the way for faster, smarter, and cost-effective medical care," said Dror Bin, CEO, Israel Innovation Authority. "Regulators across the globe are bracing for this trend and are becoming open to new models for testing drugs that correspond with the new era of personalized medicine. We are delighted to expand our successful collaboration with the State of Florida to the heath-tech sector. The combination of Israeli innovative technological companies and the Florida- based companies will enable the creation of cutting-edge solutions that will prove instrumental in laying the groundwork for the future of healthcare and providing superior personalized medical care."
The Israel Innovation Authority, responsible for the country’s innovation policy, is an independent and impartial public entity that operates for the benefit of the Israeli innovation ecosystem and Israeli economy as a whole. Its role is to nurture and develop Israeli innovation resources, while creating and strengthening the infrastructure and framework needed to support the entire knowledge industry. The Israel Innovation Authority provides a variety of practical tools and funding platforms aimed at addressing the dynamic and changing needs of the local and international innovation ecosystems.
For more information, visit: www.innovationisrael.org.il/en.