Sylvan Adams gives a taste of Israel to the world
Sylvan Adams, Canadian- born Israeli businessman and one of the most active, out- of- the- box philanthropists in the Jewish world today, addressed The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in a video interview with Jerusalem Post editor- in- chief Yaakov Katz.
Adams, whose business card lists his title as “self- appointed ambassador at large for the State of Israel,” explained his involvement in promoting Israel through sporting and cultural events, such as his sponsoring the Israel StartUp Nation cycling team in this year’s Tour de France, bringing the first stage of the Giro d’Italia grand tour cycling race to Israel in 2018, arranging Madonna’s performance at Israel’s Eurovision in 2019 and participating in the funding of SpaceIL’s journey to the moon in 2019. “The idea behind this is that media coverage of Israel is always universally negative,” says Adams. “The Israel that I moved to four- and- a- half years ago is nothing like what is portrayed in the media, and I’m trying to give a taste of the real Israel to the silent majority that doesn’t really care.”
Adams recounts the positive feelings generated by Israel’s participation in the Tour de France. “We had tens of
thousands of people yelling our team name, ‘ Yisrael Yisrael.’ We felt the love from the French fans.” He notes that tens of thousands of fans who attended the race and a worldwide TV audience of more than 3.5 billion people saw Israel in a positive light.
“The contributions that we make to the world, as sportsmen, as scientists, as musicians, as whatever we do, are a positive force to the world, and I’m
just trying to show Israel as a normal country.” Adams is confident that tourist growth to Israel can increase significantly once COVID- 19 ends, due to Israel being the center of three Abrahamic faiths with a beautiful culture and a diverse variety of activities. Adams has numerous programs and plans in the works to continue promoting Israel to the world at large. “I’m just getting started,” he says.