New York – Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Executive Vice President, Emeritus of the National Council of Young Israel, has launched the Israel Initiative “to further enhance the work of the countless individual activists and groups who are dedicated to pro-Israel causes.”
The organization’s mission is “to encourage collaboration among the various organizations as they work towards a common goal.” To this end, more than 75 pro-Israel activists and representatives of major American Jewish organizations recently convened at a Manhattan restaurant for the Initiative’s inaugural gathering, which attracted Zionist leadership and pro-Israel activists, who were encouraged to network.
The individual behind the formation
«There are many worthy organizations and dedicated activists who are each doing incredible work on behalf of the State of Israel and the greater Jewish community,» said Rabbi Lerner. «It is time to unify the various segments of the active greater pro-Israel community and to create a dynamic force that will enable us to better accomplish our individual and collective missions. This idea is long overdue.»
Well-known Jewish philanthropist and pro-Israel advocate Mrs. Cherna Moskowitz flew to New York from Florida in order to lend her support and encouragement to this endeavor and address the crowd. The participants included Helen Freedman, Executive Director of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI); Heddy Klein, former President of EMUNAH of America; Yosef Poplack, First Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel; Rabbi Yitz Greenman, Executive Director of Aish HaTorah New York; Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum, Director of the Rabbinical Alliance of America; Eli Hertz, former Chairman of CAMERA; Jordanna McMillan, Director of Outreach and Development at the Israel Allies Foundation based in Washington, D.C.; Eytan Laor, Chairman of American Principles, which is based in Florida; Goldi Steiner, Chair of Canadians for Israel›s Legal Rights; Sarah Stern, Founder and President of the Washington, D.C. based Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET); Rabbi Ben Packer, Co-Founder of Young Jewish Conservatives; Phil Rosen, Esq., a prominent Jewish communal leader who is Vice-Chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition; Teddy Pollak, President of the Hebron Fund; and Steven Orlow, President of the One Israel Fund. Ruth Folger Weiss, President of the Brooklyn-based Ad Lib Unlimited, volunteered her time in order to assist with the event planning and coordination.
