George Rooks is a retired faculty member of the University of California, Davis. A lifelong writer, he has been writing the israelstreet.org blog for more than two years with readers in more than 100 countries. Long time chairman of the largest committee in his synagogue back in northern California, he directs numerous Israel advocacy projects in his locale and is a well-known speaker in the area. He and his wife live half of each year in California and half in Ashdod.