BOWLING GREEN -- Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn is to spend a week in Israel as part of a law enforcement delegation learning how the country handles security and responds to acts of terrorism.

He and 20 other law enforcement officials from across the country-- 15 of whom are county sheriffs -- are to leave today on the trip, which is sponsored and paid for by the American Israel Education Foundation, a group that routinely takes members of Congress to Israel on educational trips. Affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby, the foundation also supports Middle East research, educational materials and conferences, and leadership programs for university students.

"We'll learn about the country and how they deal with all their risks," the sheriff said. "We'll meet with the head of law enforcement, spend time at an airport, see how they do security and screening. We'll go to checkpoints. They have tens of thousands of people every day go across the border. They're going to take us to Tel Aviv, Bethlehem, the Golan Heights, the Dead Sea."

While most county sheriffs aren't responding to terrorist attacks, the sheriff said he believes he can learn a lot in Israel and bring that knowledge back to his colleagues in Ohio.

"They'll show us how they respond to car bombs, suicide bombers, and other events, and that response also can have a parallel to natural disasters -- a tornado or flooding -- in terms of how to relocate people," he said. "You can learn a lot. It doesn't have to be the same thing."

Information about the trip from the foundation states: "At a time when our country faces historic challenges, including increasing global threats and turmoil in the Middle East, the unique bond between the United States and Israel is more essential than ever.

Close strategic, economic, political, and diplomatic ties between the United States and Israel further U.S. interests, promote regional peace, and enhance the security of both nations."

Sheriff Wasylyshyn said he believes he was invited along on the trip because he sits on the board of directors of the National Sheriff's Association and represents that group on the Institute for Intergovernmental Research's Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council, which was established after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to help ensure that federal agencies communicate better with local law enforcement.

Sheriff Wasylyshyn, a former Perrysburg police officer, was elected sheriff in 2004. He is unopposed for re-election to his third term in November.

Known for wearing his black sheriff's uniform daily, he said it will be "business casual" -- khakis and shirts -- in Israel. "No one will recognize me over there because I won't be in uniform," he joked.

He will be gone until May 20.

"I'm very honored and humbled that they would choose the sheriff of Wood County," he added.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-724-6129.

First Published May 12, 2012, 4:17 a.m.