newjerseynewsroom.com

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

On the first day of his week-long “Jersey to Jerusalem” visit to Israel and Jordan, Gov. Chris Christie Monday met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, received a briefing on the city’s Holy Basin and Old City, stood at the Feet of Temple Mount, and visited The Western Wall.

Christie and members of his delegation met with Netanyahu behind closed doors for about an hour. The governor told reporters they discussed issues pertaining to Iran and the so-called Arab Spring.

The day was to conclude with Christie, First Lady Mary Pat Christie and members of the group traveling with them hosted at a dinner held by Choose New Jersey.

Christie has described the trip as an effort to strengthen New Jersey’s economic relationships with foreign nations. The governor is accompanied by members of his family and staff, as well as a delegation of representatives from New Jersey’s business and Jewish communities.

Israel is the state’s 11th largest trading partner, and New Jersey currently has $413 million invested in Israel. Last year, New Jersey exported approximately $740,921,976 million in products to Israel.

Among the state’s top exports to Israel in 2011 were aircraft and spacecraft parts, $180,493,491; industrial machinery, including computers, $158,680,996; electrical equipment, appliances, and components, $106,792,270; optic, photo, medical or surgical instruments, $90,952,645; arms and ammunitions, $28,965,374; vehicles, $28,840,282; precious stones and metals, $17,218,418; organic chemicals, $11,151,935, and plastics,$10,440,638.

The trip has also caught the interest of New Jersey’s Jewish community, the 4th largest in the United States, with an estimated 480,000 people of Jewish decent. By percentage, New Jersey has the second-highest population of Jews — second only to New York — in the U.S. Over five percent of the state’s population is Jewish.

On Tuesday, Christie and the delegation will begin the day with a meet with Israeli President of Israel Shimon Peres. The governor will then take part in a “Remembering the Holocaust" wreath ceremony, and visit both the Israel Center for Excellence in Education in Jerusalem and also the Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in Petach Tikva. The day will end with a visit to Better Place at the Pi Glilot Compound, Ramat Hasharon in Tel Aviv.

Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) applauded Christie’s trip and called on the governor to help bolster Israel’s security by supporting a bipartisan measure he is sponsoring that would impose financial sanctions on Iran in an effort to stymie its nuclear capacity.

“The threat that Iran’s enrichment program poses to the prospect of long-term stability in the Middle East cannot be understated,” McKeon said. “One of the greatest things we can do for our ally, Israel, is to use the resources within our power to pressure those who would threaten Israel’s security, Iran being chief among them right now. The governor’s trip shows a desire to see Israel continue to flourish and that requires a united front to face down any potential threats to our ally. This bill would help deny Iran the ability to support acts of international terrorism or to fund the development and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, and I think that’s something we should all support, so I hope the Governor will sign this bill when it comes to his desk.”