Tel Aviv, 28.6.18. At the Board meeting of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, which was held today at the Strauss offices in Petach Tikvah, Mr. Yaniv Garty, Intel Vice President and CEO of Intel Israel, was appointed Chairman of the Board. Mr. Garty will replace Ofra Strauss who has served in this position since 2011. Mr. Garty joined Intel with the acquisition of Envara in 2004 and has served in senior positions at Intel Worldwide. He was appointed CEO of Intel Israel in 2017.

At the festive meeting of the Chamber's Board of Directors, Mrs. Strauss thanked the Chamber members and referred to the importance of strengthening economic relations between Israel and the United States. "The Israel-America Chamber of Commerce is an inseparable part of the economic independence, and strength of the State of Israel and for me it was a privilege to lead this important activity in recent years. Part of the contribution to the relationships and collaborations can be seen in the achievements so far and I believe that some of the initiatives will yield much value in the future. One thing is certain, we created a community that works together with reciprocity and personal commitment, a community of industrialists, entrepreneurs and visionaries whose goal is to promote economic ties between the two countries and create business opportunities for Israeli and American companies and for the Israeli economy. Yaniv Garty added: "I am pleased to join the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce and lead through it the business ties between the two countries. The Chamber promotes many important issues for Intel and me personally, especially the subject of Corporate Social Responsibility, a subject that is very developed in the US and it is important for us to promote it in Israel too. I Thank Ofra for many years of her active service, for her commitment and for leading the Chamber to what it is today - a vibrant and active body that contributes significantly to the Chamber membership and to trade between the two countries."

The Israel-America Chamber of Commerce is a private organization whose members are Israeli companies operating in the United States and American companies operating in Israel. The combined income of the Chamber's members represents about a third of Israel's GDP. The Chamber was established in 1965 to promote trade between the two countries. Today, the United States is Israel's largest trading partner, accounting for about 25% of its international trade. In 1985 the two countries signed a free trade agreement, the first of its kind, and since then trade between the two countries has multiplied more than eight times and continues to grow.

The Chamber promotes business opportunities for its members, hosts business delegations and governors from the United States, and sends delegations of Israeli companies to the United States. The Chamber also deals with the removal of trade barriers and the encouragement of a more favorable regulatory environment for the promotion of trade and investment between the two countries. Recently, the final approval was received for E2 visa called the investor visa that would allow flexible work permits for the citizens of entrepreneurs investing in each other's country. The Chamber has been working for the past eight years to obtain the permits in both countries for this visa. Some 30 executives of the largest companies in Israel, including Strauss, Intel, IBM, Teva, United, Noble Energy, Cisco, Abbott, Citi and more serve on the Chamber's Board of Directors.

For further details: Oded Rose, CEO, Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, www.amcham.co.il 03-6952341, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.