Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has made it a goal to increase the commonwealth’s international business relations embarking on numerous trade missions across the globe. One of the places is Israel. Yehuda Yaakov took over as the Consul General of Israel to New England in February.
Raised in Queens, Yaakov has been a member of Israel’s Foreign Service since 1989. He spoke with WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Jim Levulis about those business ties and the situation in Israel following this summer’s violence in Gaza.
This summer’s conflict between Israel and Hamas has quieted as a ceasefire reached in August has remained relatively intact. Since then the United States and Western powers have become increasingly focused on threats from the terrorist group The Islamic State controlling territory in Iraq and Syria. Yaakov spoke about how Iran fits into the puzzle that is stability in the Middle East.
