This week, a formal delegation from the city and county of San Francisco visited its sister city of Haifa, the largest city in northern Israel. The purpose of the visit was to share knowledge and best practices in emergency preparedness.    

 

This visit demonstrates the strength of the special alliance between the U.S. and Israel as expressed by the sister city relationship. The San Francisco delegation to the port city of Haifa was led by the chair of the San Francisco – Haifa sister city committee, Mr. Arthur Wachtel, and included the   Director of Infrastructure & City Engineer Mr. Fuad S. Sweiss; Mr. Rob Dudgeon, Director, S.F. Division of Emergency Services in the Department of Emergency Management; Ms. Naveena Bobba, Acting Director of the Department of Public Health; Dr. Nikolaj Wolfson, Orthopedic Surgeon, Expert in Orthopedic injuries in Natural Disasters and Mass Casualties at California Pacific Medical Center; Mr. Lewis Loeven, Executive Director of San Francisco Fleet Week Association; and Major General James M. Myatt, USMC (Ret) President and C.E.O of the Marines' Memorial Association and an expert in the military's Role in Humanitarian Assistance in Complex Disasters. Mrs. Anita Lee, wife of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, also joined the delegation.

 

The visit marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of the San Francisco-Haifa Sister City Committee which dates to 1973. Recent years have seen the relationship flourish, with exchanges of cultural programs, student delegations, and mutual visits by elected officials from both cities. The highest level visit in recent years was that of Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav to San Francisco in 2010. The delegation’s visit to Haifa this week was born out of discussions between Mayor Yahav, and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom (then the Mayor of San Francisco).

 

On May 27th, the delegation was formally greeted by Mayor Yahav, at an official dinner celebrating the arrival of the delegation in Haifa. Attending the formal reception were representatives of the Israeli Home Front Command from the Israel Defence Forces, the Police, Fire Department, and City Municipality. The Emergency Management Symposium held the next day included presentations by the San Francisco delegates on topics including city-wide responses during emergencies, disaster planning for hospitals, and the military’s role in humanitarian assistance.

 

The delegation also witnessed Israel’s national emergency response drill, which is taking place this week. The drill has a particular focus on military and civil preparedness for the recent threats coming from the northern front of Israel as a result of the developments of the civil war in Syria and the Lebanese Hezbollah’s involvement. The trip also includes a visit to the Golan heights region (on the border between Israel and Syria), as well as a visit to Jerusalem, where the delegation was met by the Speaker of the Israel Knesset (the parliament), The Honorable Yuli Edelstein. On Thursday, the delegates met with some of Israel’s leading medical emergency experts at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.