4 minute read
Israel and Overseas Speaker Series 2024-25
By Myra Benedikt, IOC Chair
The Israel and Overseas Committee launched its Speaker Series on Nov. 3 with a presentation by Israeli Ambassador Ido Aharoni Aranoff.
Aranoff has been Israel's longest-serving Consulate General to New York and the tristate area. Amongst numerous accolades, Aranoff was appointed to serve under Foreign Minister Shimon Peres as policy assistant to Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians. His efforts contributed significantly to the Oslo Accords.
The attendees experienced a mesmerizing and charismatic presentation and participated in a generous Q&A session. Some topics covered were the anti-Israel machinations of the United Nations, the isolation of the Palestinians by the other Arab nations, the need for geographic separation between Israel and the Palestinians, and the horrors of Oct. 7, 2023, being much bigger than a stand-alone event. Many other topics were discussed.
On Dec. 18, U.S. Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace Kari Reid, enlightened us about how the alliance of 160+ member non-governmental organizations in Israel and the region channel their ambition toward increased cooperation and political impact, making them more than the sum of their parts. During the ongoing crisis, ALLMEP is supporting peacebuilders through many efforts, including:
• A joint campaign for emergency funding
• Tutoring member NGOs seeking emergency funding
• Checking in individually with peacebuilders who have suffered
• Connecting donors with humanitarian organizations
The IOC invites Federation members and guests to the final four lectures of the season.
On Jan. 21, we welcome Peter Geffen, founder of The Abraham Joshua Heschel School in NYC and of Kivunim: The Institute for Experiential Learning for Israel and World Jewish Communities Studies.
One of Geffen’s primary innovations through the Kivunim Institute was the establishment of a unique gap year program in Israel called Kivunim: New Directions. This post-high school/precollege program combines an academic year-long residence in Israel with five international study missions to 10 countries ranging from Morocco to India. In fact, some universities award participants a full year of college credit for the Kivunim program, “Building World Consciousness through the Jewish Lens.” Geffen’s topic will be The Magical Story of Moroccan Muslim Jewish Coexistence.
In February, diplomat Ofer Bavly will enlighten us about The Sanabel Leadership Program in Israel that is uplifting the marginalized Israeli Druze minority. The program forms cadres of successful young Druze in Northern Israel to lead their community in integrating into Israeli society while maintaining their heritage, culture and identity.
On March 12, Dr. Akiba Covitz will educate us about Ultimate Allies: Current Tensions and Future Prospects in US-Israel Relations. Dr. Covitz has worked in the higher education space for most of his career, both as an academic and as an entrepreneur. For much of his career, Dr. Covitz was associate dean for Faculty Development at the Harvard Law School.
On April 9, Israeli journalist, author and podcaster Dina Kraft joins us. Kraft is a long-time foreign correspondent who began her overseas career in the Jerusalem bureau of The Associated Press. She was later posted to AP’s Johannesburg bureau where she covered southern Africa. She’s also reported from Senegal, Kenya, Pakistan, Jordan, Tunisia, Russia and Ukraine. Kraft is drawn to stories featuring unlikely connections, dual narratives and the impact of conflict on ordinary lives. She hosted the “The Branch,” a podcast sponsored by Hadassah, which told the stories of friendships among Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.
Kraft was a winner of the 2020 B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Award for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage. She was a 2012 recipient of the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and a 2015 recipient of the Ochberg Fellowship at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University. Kraft’s work has also been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Haaretz, among others. Her topic will cover Stories of Healing, Resilience and Resistance in Israel post Oct. 7.
Please contact me or Reneé Bialek if you would like to know more about the work of the Israel and Overseas Committee.
