A delegations of 100 German business leaders is slated to visit Israel later this month, Israel Hayom reported Thursday.

While many in Europe are calling for a boycott of Israel, a delegation of 100 German industry leaders is preparing for a trip to Israel to meet with top businesspeople in an extraordinary show of support for the Jewish state, marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. …

Israel’s commercial attaché in Berlin, Hemdat Sagi, told Israel Hayom that “in recent years, Germany is becoming more and more open to innovation and more interested in what’s going on in Israel. This is true both on a governmental level and a business level.”

According to Sagi, “Large companies like Deutsche Telekom, Merck and SAP SE, are already conducting R&D activities in Israel. The job of the commercial office in Berlin is to bring new partners to cooperate with Israeli companies and to enjoy the interesting synergies being formed with the Israeli market.”

Five years ago, Israel and Germany signed an agreement to fund joint “biotechnology, water and environmental technology, and security and defense technology” projects. Now, both countries are looking to extend the agreement to small and mid-size companies too. “Germany is currently Israel’s chief trade partner in Europe,” noted Israeli Minister of Economics and Trade Aryeh Deri.

The news of the upcoming delegation follows the recent announcement that a major German scientific institute plans to open a cybersecurity center in Israel.

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