Rauner in Israel
Monday, Oct 30, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz…
Gov. Bruce Rauner is off to Israel, accompanied by University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen and other academics on a trip designed to boost trade and particularly high-end research investment with the Jewish state.
According to Rauner’s office, the trip will begin this Sunday, Oct. 29 and last until Nov. 3. Officials from the Rauner administration and university are to promote the new Illinois Innovation Network on the Near South Side meet with leaders of the Israeli Innovation Authority and other entrepreneurial organizations, and formalize partnership with Ben Gurion University and other research schools.
A chat with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also is on the agenda. If conversation lags, perhaps the governor and prime minister can talk about Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has fought with Rauner on any number of matters and who clashed with Netanyahu back in the days when the mayor was a policy aide to then-President Bill Clinton.
More seriously, “We believe in connecting the dots between the state of Israel and the state of Illinois,” said Aviv Ezra, the Israeli counsel general for the Midwest, who is based in Chicago. “The best way to do that is to create a win-win environment.”
At a minimum, Ezra said he expects some memoranda of understanding to be signed on the trip, with at least some discussion of Israeli investment here.
* Hey, what do you know, it’s Scott Walker…
* He got his MOU…
But it took him five tries to get the tweet right…
Must be jet lag.
* He also met the prime minister…
Did you realize that Israel is about to start exporting marijuana? I kid you not.
Also, I’m told that former Rauner chief of staff Richard Goldberg is in Israel as well. No pics of the two of them together yet, though.
- Deft Wing - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 11:48 am:
Oh yeah, now he wears a suit and tie. Hmm.
- Annonin' - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 11:51 am:
Won’t it be fun to drop the FOI’s on U of I to see who is footin’ the bill for this junket.
- PublicServant - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 11:53 am:
Oy
- Lawman - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 11:57 am:
Rauner even put on a tie. Must need to impress the people over there more than he does the people at home.
- PJ - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 11:57 am:
Anyone feel a dubious anecdote coming on?
“And the uh, prime minister, we were having lunch and he told me ‘Mike Madigan is actively supporting Hamas in Palestine’”. I just about spit out my soup.”
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 12:00 pm:
Walker: âNormally I wouldnât pay you a compliment Bruce, but if you let that, that, whatever it is on your scalp grow out, youâd make a decent scarecrowâ
- wordslinger - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 12:10 pm:
Watch out for those collectivists at the kibbutzim, Rauner.
I wonder if Gov. Walker will pay homage to former Milwaukee school teacher and labor radical Golda Meier.
I wonder if CrazyEyez has a clue as to who she was.
- cdog - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 12:13 pm:
Israel had been a global leader in marijuana research for a very long time.
There is so much economic opportunity here, but I doubt Rauner has the wits to convert it to an Illinois win.
- Grand Avenue - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 12:17 pm:
He looks better in a suit & tie, better than the flannel & Carhartt get up.
Frankly, if I’m him I would make a suit my campaign uniform - it accentuates his slender figure, which is a great physical contrast with JB Pritzker’s corpulence.
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 12:44 pm:
Rauner didnât flub up until he greeter Bibi with ââassalumu alaykumâ. Heâs in âconferenceâ with communication prep team.
- LouLecture - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 12:44 pm:
=Did you realize that Israel is about to start exporting marijuana? I kid you not.=
Israeli chemist Raphael Mechoulam, a researcher at Hebrew University and is the leading pioneer in cannabis research.
Mechoulam’s research has included co-discovering the endocannabinoid system, the largest receptor system in the human body.
- Frequently Blocked By Rich - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 12:55 pm:
=Mechoulamâs research has included co-discovering the endocannabinoid system, the largest receptor system in the human body.=
The other co-discoverer was Cheech-Marin.
- Anonymous - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 2:10 pm:
Rauner on phone with wife:
âWell, I thought Iâd give Netty the âol Bruceâ routine, so I leaned over at the photo op and showed him my Rolex and said âSee?
You guys arenât the only ones who know how to make moneyâ…………hello? You still there? I thought it would……no, yeah…….right, right…….probably should have left that one at home. Right. Right. (Holds phone away from ear). Yeah, yeah. Youâre right……hello? Hello?â (Bruce gives âdeer in the headlightâ look). Hangs up
- wordslinger - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 4:44 pm:
–Must be jet lag.–
Maybe not. They party hearty in Tel Aviv, and I don’t mean Mogen David.
- VanillaMan - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 9:32 pm:
I support Israel, but not Bruce Rauner.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Oct 30, 17 @ 9:56 pm:
Annonin’ should read a newspaper other than the Racing Form. It’s already been reported who is paying for who’s travel. No scandal, sorry.