community is currently possible. “We have some old infrastructure in New Orleans,” he commented. Ehrenwerth called it “a very important trip from a professional perspective,” adding that there is limitless potential in the partnership. This was his seventh trip to Israel, but he said this was “completely different.” Edwards said the vision for the Water Institute of the Gulf is to have a world-wide impact, with Louisiana as a global leader in water management. Dardenne spoke about Israel as the start-up nation, saying the government invests in startups and risky ventures knowing that many of them would fail, but others would succeed tremendously. He said that is a different culture than the United States, where state governments are not in that type of position and are much more risk averse. The group repeatedly heard the expression that Israel “lives in a bad neighborhood,” Dardenne said. Robert Landry, chief commercial officer for the Port of New Orleans, spoke at the New Orleans event. He noted that one of the largest shipping container lines using the Port of New Orleans is Zim, which is an Israeli company. Landry and many of the participants met with the president of Zim during the trip. Grain and frozen chicken are exported to Israel through New Orleans, while imports from Israel include food products and a lot of furniture for Rooms To Go. A major concern for the shipping industry is cyber security, and Landry noted that a hacker attack had previously shut down the port in Mobile for three days. “Cyber security is increasingly important, and we put a high priority on that.” In Baton Rouge, Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis, co-chair of the Louisiana Cybersecurity Commission, noted that he had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, “some pretty tough areas,” so he didn’t know what the “threat environment would be visiting Israel.” He quickly realized this would be a different experience, as he “never felt threatened,” and he was “amazed to see the different religions, different nationalities” throughout Israel. With everyone in Israel focused on national survival, “they have to be masters of the cyber world,” including the realms of government, oil and gas, transportation and water. Cyber-security is a major emphasis for Edwards, who noted that 40 percent of private sector investment in cyber security takes place in Israel. He said there will be a national cyber-security conference with officials from all 50 states invited, this May in Bossier City, and he anticipates a lot of representation from Israel. “It’s my goal for Louisiana to be a national
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February 2019 • Southern Jewish Life
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