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MAKE BETTER DEALS ! For many in the area, peace and politics in the Middle East are paramount.
The occasion was the laying of the cornerstone of the Bridging the Rift Center (BTR), a life sciences research complex — which also will train graduate students from both sides of the border — on 150 acres donated equally by both countries, 43 miles south of the Dead Sea. Cornell’s interest is in the core of the BTR Center, the Library of Life, which will develop the world’s first database of all species. Led by researchers at both Cornell and Stanford University, the center will offer doctoral degrees from both institutions.
In a setting that was part Hollywood (a huge central screen with flashing images and musical flourishes) and part tradition (Bedouin tents and carpets, and young Israeli dancers), the center’s cornerstone was slowly lowered into the ground.
The foundation, which is providing seed money for the BTR Center (which ultimately will be paid for entirely with private donations), is headed by New York City businessman Mati Kochavi, a native of Israel. Kochavi invited an impressive guest list of Americans who attended the ceremony, among them Gen.
Tommy Franks, the retired former commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, and Jack Kemp, former U.S. congressman and secretary of housing and urban development. Earlier in the day, the BTR guests, including Lehman and his wife, Kathy Okun, had met for breakfast at the Jerusalem residence of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The group ended the day at the Royal Jordanian Court in Amman, where Lehman presented King Abdullah II of Jordan with a medallion and a Cornell gift for Queen Rania.
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Source: (Mati Kochavi) http://www.ziki.com/en/mati-kochavi+1189143/post/mati-kochavi-lehman-leads-cu-group-to-promote-education-and-peace+14478259