Tysons Corner, VA–The premise of ABC’s business reality television series “Shark Tank” is simple. Celebrity investor “sharks” hear proposals from contestants pitching new product ideas. Winning ideas receive funding. Pitches that fall short are ripped to bloody shreds to the delight of mass audiences. How will the concept work for Israeli military contractors now that the U.S. Air Force has its own shark tank? According to Deborah Lee James, former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, small military contractors can immediately get a $100,000 credit card swipe after successfully making a quick pitch.
On February 3, Israeli military contractors hoping to win big U.S. government contracts gathered at an event organized in Northern Virginia by the Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB) and Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). VIAB is an office of Virginia’s General Assembly. Though self-designated as an advisory board, VIAB functions more as an Israel export promotion council with a strange twist—it is funded entirely by Virginia—rather than Israeli—taxpayers. VIAB’s portfolio of projects—which often compete against home-grown U.S. and Virginia companies—is powered by multitudes of grants and subsidized loans. Nevertheless VIAB has generated a string of failures due to its lack of market discipline, self-dealing and questionable activities conducted mostly in secret. More.