American Friends of Bet El invites the community to enjoy an educational and informative evening with two remarkable heroes of Israel—presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and Modi Rosen, Israel’s leading venture capitalist responsible for the success of the WAZE app.

Many refer to Gov. Huckabee as one of the most important supporters and allies of Israel in American politics today. Unlike most politicians who say what people want to hear, Huckabee says exactly what he believes, often in dramatic terms. He recently blasted the Iran deal, thereby affirming his kinship with Israel, declaring that the deal “is marching Israelis to the door of the oven.

“It’s time for all in the United States to join together and support Israel,” he said. “I have been to the promised land over 30 times in the past 41 years and have never seen the nation under such dire threat. Israel is our closest ally and friend and they are suffering due to evil people and evil countries throughout the world. We as a country must do more to protect Israel and relish in its survival. God has protected this very small, beautiful and increasingly meaningful country, but it’s time for the United States to do the same,” he adds.

The second speaker at the dinner will be Modi Rosen, who founded Magma Venture Partners and has served as managing partner of the fund since 1999. Magma Venture Partners is one of Israel’s leading Venture Capital firms, focused on investing in early stage information technology start-ups. To date, the fund has raised close to $500 million and was the seed investor in WAZE (acquired by Google).

Modi Rosen enthusiastically promotes the great potential and genius of Israeli high tech industry at every opportunity. He is also a great supporter of Bet El and is a very close friend of Ketzaleh, Bet El’s founder.

The Bet El story is truly a modern-day miracle. Spearheaded by visionaries like Jean and Eugen Gluck, this community is doing everything to bring light and warmth to the world, promoting social justice and compassionate values of which we can all be proud.

Bet El’s extraordinary story began 4,000 years ago, when the patriarch Abraham established it as camp along his divinely inspired trek through the land of Canaan. Two generations later, Bet El became the site of Jacob’s famous dream and dramatic wrestling match with an angel—the site where the name “Israel” was coined.

Today, Bet El has transformed from a tiny community of eight families in 1977 to a strong Jewish center, which houses an ethnically diverse Jewish population of over 10,000. Boasting yeshivot, the national media network Arutz Sheva, and Besheva newspaper, this vibrant community is one of the cornerstones of Israel and the world.

How was this spiritual oasis created? What makes it thrive? Those answers date back over 30 years ago when Yom Kippur War hero Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz, along with a few families and yeshiva students, had a vision of what Bet El could be. With three decades of tireless help from Jean and Eugen Gluck and the American Friends of Bet El, the town is now a vibrant center of Jewish life that nurtures all of Israel in a way that no other center of learning can match. Bet El is not just a learning center, it is a way of life.

On December 6, at the Marriott Marquis Ballroom in Manhattan, American Friends of Bet El will honor the residents and supporters of the northern Samarian town who have toiled selflessly for the survival and growth of their community and the State of Israel. Now in its 33nd year, the American Friends of Bet El dinner has become one of New York City’s largest and most prestigious Jewish events, with last year’s dinner attracting an astounding 1,500 attendees.

In addition to hearing guest speaker Governor Mike Huckabee and keynote speaker Modi Rosen, The American Friends of Bet El will be honoring a number of its supporters.The Shomer Yisrael Honorees are Stanley and Judith Rosenberg. The Keter Torah Awardees are Rabbi Moshe Plutchok, Rabbi Yosef Bitton and Steven Adelsberg. The Shomer Bet El Awardees are William and Mark Langfan. The Young Leadership Awardees are Marc and Davida Yehaskel.

The event will begin with a 6 p.m. buffet dinner. Tickets are $500 per couple. To make reservations, contact Baruch Gordon at (917)595-0435.