FAU holds $8.2M in Israel Bonds, the largest of any university worldwide. FIU runs a $5M joint research grant. Inside the university pipeline underneath Florida's $7.3B Israeli tech corridor.
The Florida–Israel technology corridor generates $7.3 billion in economic output, according to the USIBA Florida–Israel Economic Impact Report. Underneath all of it runs the university pipeline: formal institutional partnerships between Florida's public universities and Israel's research institutions.
What Is the Florida-Israel Institute?
The Florida-Israel Institute (FII) is a public organization created by the Florida state legislature and jointly administered by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Broward College. It facilitates research, academic exchange, and commercial partnerships between Israeli and Florida institutions.
The FII runs a collaboration with philanthropist Michael R. Levine to support Technion students pursuing master's degrees at FAU. Dr. Shai Arogeti, an autonomous vehicles researcher from Ben-Gurion University, has been embedded at FAU through the FII, a talent pipeline that runs alongside the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator's company-side pipeline in Tampa.
How Much Has FAU Invested in Israel Bonds?
In November 2025, FAU purchased an additional $5 million in Israeli government-backed bonds, bringing total holdings to $8.2 million, the largest of any university in the world. Palm Beach County is the world's largest local government investor in Israel Bonds, with over $700 million invested since October 7, 2023.
What Does FIU's Research Partnership With Israel Cover?
Florida International University (FIU) signed a partnership built around a $5 million shared research grant focused on child psychology. FIU sits inside the same Miami-Dade academic and civic footprint documented in Olam's Florida's Jewish Institutional Build, which tracks the community infrastructure, day schools, and synagogues that surround the corridor's universities.
What Is FGCU's Agreement With Tel Aviv University?
Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) signed a cooperation agreement with Tel Aviv University to build a joint entrepreneurial studies program, extending the same founder-training pipeline that feeds Israel Tech Week Miami, the annual conference documented in Olam's profile of co-founder Lior Halabi.
What Legal Framework Supports These University Partnerships?
Florida's SB-86, signed February 24, 2016, prohibits the state from contracting with companies that boycott Israel. This creates the legal framework within which university investments in Israel Bonds and state-funded entities like the FII operate with explicit legislative backing.
What's Missing From Florida's University-Israel Pipeline?
No Florida university has a dedicated Israeli technology transfer office. Exchange programs are bilateral rather than structural. Compared to UK institutions with joint research centers and shared IP agreements, Florida's partnerships are warmer but shallower than the $7.3 billion economic corridor would justify.
This article is part of Olam's Florida–Israel section, ongoing reporting and research on the capital, companies, and community building the corridor.