Central New Jersey’s Jewish National Fund (JNF) hosted its first Garden State Breakfast on Sunday, March 13, at Congregation B’Nai Tikvah in North Brunswick. The inaugural event was attended by an excited group of over 400 Israel supporters and included a concurrent teen program. The event was co-chaired by Allison Nagelberg, Phyllis Solomon, Naomi Vilko and Rabbi Robert Wolkoff.
Special guest speaker for the event was Israeli Ambassador Danny Ayalon. Ambassador Ayalon is an Israeli diplomat, columnist and politician. He was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2002 to 2006. From 1997 to 2002, Ayalon served as a foreign policy advisor to three prime ministers. From 1989 to 1997, he was Consul to Panama and a member of Israel’s Permanent Mission to the UN.
Ambassador Ayalon is president of a private consulting firm for governments and international corporations. He is the founder of “The Truth About Israel” (thetruthaboutisrael.org.il), a non-profit corporation to train and educate the public about Israel. His short videos have been seen by millions. Since 2014, Ambassador Ayalon has been serving as The Rennert Visiting Professor of Foreign Policy Studies at Yeshiva University.
Ambassador Ayalon’s remarks centered around the importance of being proud to support Israel and not shying away from defending Israel, especially on college campuses. The inspiring program brought awareness to how JNF’s programing positively affects the lives of all Israelis. In his remarks, Ambassador Ayalon stated that JNF and other NGOs must provide a virtual “Iron Dome” of protection for Israel and the Jewish people against the lies in the media, on our campuses, in the UN and in the public sphere.
Another component of the breakfast included a presentation about the memorial lookout on the Boys’ Promenade in Gush Etzion that will be dedicated in memory of Ezra Schwartz (hy”d), who was killed in a terrorist attack on November 19, 2015 in Gush Etzion. The memorial lookout will not only honor the memory of Ezra, but also that of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel who were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists in 2014. Members of Ezra’s family were in attendance at the breakfast.
Dr. Naomi Vilko, on the President’s Council of JNF and a close friend of Ambassador Ayalon, recently returned from leading a JNF Doctors for Israel Mission to Israel. She said that at every JNF event she learns something new about what the organization is doing to enhance the lives of Israelis. “It is wonderful to learn about the projects JNF is involved with and then to go to Israel and see them for myself. It brings a whole new perspective to an already meaningful experience. I encourage everyone to go on a JNF mission to Israel.”
To learn more about JNF’s work and mission, and how to get involved, please visit jnf.org or contact Michael Zimmerman at [email protected].
By Marina Brodetsky
