On Sunday, February 9, at 8 p.m., Knesset member Nir Barkat will be speaking to the community at Yeshivat He’Atid, located at 1500 Queen Anne Road inTeaneck. Teaneck Deputy Mayors Elie Y. Katz and Mark Schwartz, together with Bergenfield Councilwoman Ora Kornbluth, who also serves as the executive director of Yeshivat He’Atid, graciously offered to host Barkat as he travels within the U.S. to promote the upcoming WZO elections. Currently a member of the Israeli Knesset from the Likud Party, Barkat served as the mayor of Jerusalem for 10 years, from 2008 until 2018. Implementing his prior experience as an accomplished technology innovator and executive, under his leadership Jerusalem developed into a regional center for tech start-ups. Barkat’s administration provided incentives, tax breaks and grants for companies with employees living in the city. By 2016, over 500 start-ups had been established in Jerusalem. As mayor, Barkat encouraged personal activism and entrepreneurship. In 2015, Barkat was hailed a “hero” when he intervened in an attack by a Palestinian on a Jewish victim.

The community is urged to come out and hear why registering for the upcoming WZO elections is so vital to the state of Israel and American Jewry.