Harris County Treasurer Goes to Israel With ADL

Date: January 20, 2012

Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez recently returned from Israel and ADL's Latin and Latin American Legislators Mission to Israel.  The trip, which spanned late November into early December, took government officials from various parts of the United States and Latin American countries to Israel to learn more about how the country operates and to help them come back with proven methods they can use, based on Israeli methods of dealing with numerous issues, including immigration, agriculture, and conflict.

Sanchez wrote in a letter to ADL Regional Director Martin Cominsky that the trip was invaluable.  "This was my first visit to Israel and as a person who has spent nearly two decades in public service; fifteen of those as an elected official, I was impressed by the resourcefulness of the Jewish State…. The ingenuity of the Israeli people in terms of agriculture, technology, infrastructure and defense are unparalleled."

He wrote that he took lessons from the business world, the sensitivity and respect Israel shows for holy and archeological sites, and the way Israelis are struggling with their own problems.  One of the most repeated phrases by Israelis, he wrote, was "It's complicated," and he acknowledged that only by visiting Israel can one be aware of the true complexities of the country and the region.