The Anglo Israel Association (AIA) and UK Israel Business (UKIB) have agreed to work together in their shared mission to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the UK and Israel.


Welcoming this exciting new relationship, Lord Bew, Chairman of the AIA, said: “By bringing together the deep academic and government relationships developed by AIA with UKIB’s extensive business networks, we look forward to strengthening the multi-dimensional and robust bilateral relationship between the two countries.”


Under the arrangement, AIA will remain a separate legal entity but three of its Trustees, Danny Kessler (who has been appointed as Chair of UKIB), Richard Bolchover and Bruce Streather, will become Directors of UKIB, joining Jonathan Morris who remains from the outgoing Board.

Hugo Bieber, Chief Executive of UKIB, is moving with his young family to Melbourne, Australia, and has therefore stepped down from his role after seven years of leadership. Commenting on Hugo’s time at UKIB, Leon Blitz, outgoing Chairman of UKIB, said: “Over the last seven years, Hugo, supported by the board of UKIB, has created an immense impact, transforming the strength and reach of the organisation.” He continued: “The Executive Delegation programmes have taken over 150 senior professionals from some 80 organisations to Israel resulting in investments in Israeli companies and funds and the establishment of an innovation centre in Israel for a global company. The annual Innovate Summit has brought around 40 Israeli scale-up companies to the UK to meet with hundreds of UK companies and investors and the partnerships Hugo has created with companies like Amazon, BlackRock, Bloomberg, BT, London Stock Exchange and MasterCard have brought about considerable growth for UKIB”


Leon Blitz has been appointed as an Honorary Life President of UKIB. Commenting on Leon’s contribution, Lord Bew said: “Leon has demonstrated outstanding leadership resulting in the creation of a powerful brand for UKIB with a solid reputation, and we are delighted he has agreed to accept this mark of recognition of his work over many years.”
Dor Bershadsky, currently Senior Manager at UKIB, has become Executive Director. During his three years at UKIB, Dor has led the expansion of the organisation’s executive delegations programme and the creation of sector-focused networks such as the ‘UK Israel HealthTech Forum’, which brings together 300 leaders (forum members) representing the UK and Israel health tech ecosystems.

Notes:
About the AIA

The AIA was established in 1949 by Brigadier-General Sir Wyndham Deedes, the first Chief Secretary to the British High Commissioner to Mandate Palestine, who thought that it should not be for Jews alone to support the State of Israel.


The AIA today is an independent charity that enjoys the active support of people from different faiths and none, across the entire political spectrum.
The Association’s primary purpose is to promote wider and better understanding of Israel in the UK; to encourage exchanges between both countries at every level and generally to support activities which foster good will between British and Israeli citizens.


More details can be found on www.angloisraelassociation.com

About UKIB
We are the UK’s Israel Business connector. Founded in 1950, as a non-profit organisation, we nurture the dynamic growth of business and investment between the two countries, connecting the online world with the offline relationships that underpin great business. Based in London, we arrange the highest quality events across sectors ranging from HealthTech to private equity, bringing together key business leaders, investors and opinion formers between the two countries.


For 70 years we have played a crucial role in building and strengthening business ties between UK and Israel.

More details can be found on www.ukisrael.biz