On March 8th, Consul General Roey Gilad traveled to Topeka, Kansas for meetings with state officials. Marvin Szneler of the Kansas City Jewish Community Relations Bureau and Rabbi Debbie Stiel of Temple Sholom, were instrumental in organizing the meetings for this portion of the trip. Consul General was honored on the floors of both the State Senate and House of Representatives during their opening prayer. Between each session, Consul General had the opportunity to address both groups during a more intimate meeting with a talk titled “The Israel America Relationship and the Israel-Kansas Relationship.”
Consul General also met privately with Governor Sam Brownback, and later in the afternoon with U.S. Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins to discuss possibilities for increasing collaborations between Kansas and Israel. In the evening, Consul General had dinner at Temple Sholom with local interfaith leaders, before giving a public lecture titled “Israel: Facing the New Challenges in the Middle East.”
The following day, Consul General went to Kansas University in Lawrence. While on campus, he met with Neeli Bendapudi, Dean of Business School and Professor Wallace Meyer, Director of the Entrepreneurship Programs in the business school, to discuss the bi-annual trip they run in Israel for 25 students, as well as additional opportunities for partnership with Israeli businesses and academic institutions. Consul General also met with Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, a strong supporter of Israel. Later he met with pro-Israel student leaders, before giving a lecture that was open to the campus and the community. The trip was a big success, with lots of doors opened for future collaborations at both the state government and university level.