Western Australian delegation visits Israel
Andrew Blitz recently visited Israel as a member of a business group from Western Australia.
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Blitz now lives with his wife and family in Perth.
Andrew Blitz
He has been involved with Jewish communal activities for all of his adult life, including helping establish Torah Mitzion, a religious Zionist Kollel in Perth.
Spending a year in Israel in 1990 on the B’nai Akiva MTA programme whetted Andrew’s appetite for Israel advocacy work. He believes the best way of presenting Israel’s achievements in many fields is to bring groups of business people to Israel to see for themselves how the start-up nation leads the world in various areas.
Describing himself as a procurement professional, organising tenders and contracts for local WA Government Associations he also runs his own consultancy involving technical and ghost writing.
Andrew Blitz is also the author of two books. “My Salvation”recounts the history of a Jewish refugee from Iraq who settled in Perth and “Spiritual Treasure” , a biography of Rabbi Dr. Shalom Coleman, a well-loved and long-serving Rabbi in Perth.
This current trip to Israel with a Western Australian trade delegation under the auspices of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce was designed to expose the 26 participants to not only innovative enterprises but also to learn about the realities faced here. The group consisted of academics, industry leaders, people involved in local Government and experts in cyber security. Andrew’s task is to help foster bilateral trade links between Western Australia and Israel for the mutual benefit of both parties.
Andrew listed three main objectives and benefits for those participating:
- Creating trading and business opportunities.
- Learning from Israel’s experiences and adapting them to the Australian business environment.
- As many of the participants are committed Christians, enabling them to have a religious encounter in the Land where it all happened and observing how people of different faiths are able to worship in complete freedom, something unique in the whole of the Middle East.
These visits, he maintains, are the best and most efficient means to convey realities as opposed to the warped perspectives gleaned from the media.
