“Israel Day” was held at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, comprising a series of events highlighting Israel’s technological advancements and its outsize impact on Wall Street.

The programming was organized by the America-Israel Friendship League (AIFL). “AIFL is honored that the NYSE recognizes Israel’s accomplishments as a start-up nation, not only in commerce, science and technology, but also in the creation of a society, which advances the cause of freedom, liberty and human rights,” AIFL president and CEO Kenneth Bialkin said in a statement. “Israel stands as a partner with the United States in the common defense of the values we share.”

“The level of Israeli equities listed on Wall Street is yet another example of Israeli innovation and the strong US-Israel relationship,” added AIFL executive director Daniella Riliv. Israel has the third-largest representation on Wall Street behind China and Canada.

One panel featured female Israeli entrepreneurs, including Karen Haruvi, a senior vice president for Teva Pharmaceuticals, the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs; Tzameret Fuerst, co-founder of Circ MedTech, a company that makes adult circumcision devices; Liat Mordechay Hertanu, co-founder of the virtual assistant specialists 24me; and fashion designer and artist Noa Raviv.

A second panel focused on investing in publicly-traded Israeli companies. “One should invest in Israel not just to support the Jewish State, but because it is a solid investment that historically has outperformed most other international equity investments over the past three, five, and 10 years,” said Steven Schoenfeld, CEO of BlueStar Indexes. Schoenfeld and his firm, which indexes Israeli firms for investment, were profiled by Tower senior editor Ben Cohen in 2014.

[Photo: AIFL ]