Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen are leaving for a trade and research mission to Israel on Sunday.
Rauner made the announcement Friday morning, saying that among their itinerary will be meetings with officials at four Israeli universities. The trip comes after the university last week proposed a public-private innovation center near downtown Chicago that would partner the school with other higher education institutions in Chicago and abroad.
The governor's office said Israel's consul general to the Midwest, Aviv Ezra, helped set much of the itinerary for the trip and will travel with the Illinois delegation.
The Illinois delegation is scheduled to leave Sunday and return late next week.
This is Rauner's second trade mission this year. In September the governor went on an eight-day trip to Japan and China.
