Just two hours before suffering severe injuries in an April 12 automobile accident on the Garden State Parkway, Gov. Jon Corzine was sitting in a hospitality suite at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, looking forward to leading a trade mission to Israel.

"We're going to chase business — particularly in the biotechnology and stem-cell technology-based areas," Corzine said during an interview with New Jersey Jewish News. "We want to make sure that [Israelis] know that New Jersey is a welcoming home base for them in the United States. We should have a footprint in Israel, and Israeli companies should have a footprint here."

But the mission, put off once before so that Corzine could be present in Trenton as the legislature voted on property tax relief in January, was postponed once again when the governor was gravely injured in a chain-reaction traffic accident that evening.

The crash occurred while Corzine was traveling from Atlantic City to Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton — reportedly to mediate a meeting between radio personality Don Imus and members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team, whom the so-called "shock jock" had defamed.

The catalyst for the crash, according to reports, was a red pickup truck that swerved from the shoulder onto the parkway, causing another vehicle to veer into the path of the SUV in which Corzine was riding. The SUV spun out, crashed into a guardrail, and ended up on a grassy median strip.

The governor, who reportedly had not been wearing a seat belt, sustained a compound fracture of his thighbone, 12 cracked ribs, a broken breastbone, and a broken collarbone, among other injuries. He was said to have lost half the volume of his blood at the scene. He is currently recovering in "critical but stable" condition in the trauma intensive care unit at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

The mission to Israel, which was designed to promote trade between New Jersey and Israeli business people — particularly in the areas of biotechnology and stem cell research — would have taken Corzine to Israel from April 13 to 18.

The governor had been scheduled to travel with Gary Rose, chief of the Office of Economic Growth, and Celeste Armenti-McElroy, international trade representative and senior director of the Office of Economic Growth.

Rose, who was on hand in Atlantic City, said that the group had plans to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Vice Premier Shimon Peres. The planned itinerary included Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other points around the country, with visits scheduled to Hadassah Hospital, the Weizmann Institute, and the Rabin Center.

While in Israel, the governor would have participated in a Yom Hashoa (Holocaust Remembrance Day) ceremony at Yad Vashem, Rose said. The trip was also to have included a briefing on homeland security by Israeli experts.

On the eve of the mission, Corzine had traveled to Atlantic City to moderate a panel discussion on the state's economy at the annual conference of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors. As he arrived in the resort's Tiara Ballroom, the 60-year-old governor appeared relaxed and in good spirits. During the hour-long program, he was at ease and in his element, fielding questions from the mayors on such issues as smart growth, transportation, and regional planning.

Corzine's overriding message to the mayors was the need for New Jersey to get its financial house in order. The state is facing a $50 billion pension liability and an $80 billion healthcare liability, he said.

"We're looking for magic," Corzine told the gathering. "I do think there are a lot of things we can do for the state if we can get the finances of the state in order." However, he said, if New Jersey fails to restore financial stability, then aid to schools, hospitals, and municipalities, among other pressing needs, would remain unaddressed in an adequate way.

Corzine struck a similar chord during his interview with the Jewish News. When asked about his commitment to supporting services to the elderly in the state, including NORCs — naturally occurring retirement communities — the governor did not respond directly, but rather shifted the focus to the state's financial woes.

"I think we have to address the overall financial structure of the state," Corzine said. "We're going to have to face major cuts in services or a hike in taxes, or we're going to have to find some other way to provide for cash flow that allows us to be in the business of protecting the social safety net.

"Right now, we are not in a position to do that," he said. "I think it is the responsibility of this administration to do everything we can, on all fronts. We've got to grow this economy, and we need to manage government better, getting efficiency out of the dollars we spend."

Growing the state's economy was very much on the agenda of the now-aborted trade mission to Israel. Corzine pointed in particular to opportunities for business exchange provided by New Jersey's Stem Cell Institute and its concentration of pharmaceutical companies.

"We're on the cutting edge of this," he said. "A number of Israeli pharmaceutical companies are already here, but we want those ties even tighter. We want the home base for Israel in the United States to be New Jersey."

The relationship between Israel and New Jersey is "extraordinarily strong," Corzine added. "That doesn't mean we don't want to nurture it." He noted that New Jersey is already Israel's fourth-largest trading partner in the United States. "We can move it on up," he said. "I think there are hundreds of millions of dollars of business activity that can go on between the two countries, and it should be mutual."

On all these issues, Corzine added, he remains an optimist. "I'm always hopeful," he said. "If you're not an optimist, you shouldn't be in politics, as far as I'm concerned."

The interview over, Corzine rose to leave the suite. But at the door, he turned back for a moment. "I like going to Israel," he said with a smile. "People in Israel are filled with fire."