Your Daily Phil: Jewish philanthropists dine with MBS, offering opportunities with caveats
Add EJP on GoogleGood Wednesday morning!
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we reflect on last night’s White House dinner for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which was attended by several prominent Jewish philanthropists. We wrap up coverage of this week’s Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly and report on the settlement of an antisemitism lawsuit against a Virginia private school. We feature an opinion piece by Omri Gefen with a model from moving from an “ego-system” to an ecosystem of organizations co-owning strategies and outcomes. Also in this issue: Leonard Lauder, Einat Wilf and Alfred Dreyfus.
What We’re Watching
The Endowment for Middle East Truth is hosting its 16th annual Rays of Light in the Darkness awards dinner tonight in Washington. This year’s honorees include Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the Justice Department’s Leo Terrell, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, Hungarian Ambassador to the U.S. Szabolcs Takacs and Pakistani American journalist Anila Ali.
Elluminate is holding its annual one-day convening tomorrow morning in New York City.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD FROM EJP’S JUDAH ARI GROSS
Among the dignitaries, diplomats, sports figures and tech moguls at last night’s black-tie dinner at the White House for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were several prominent Jewish philanthropists, mingling with Saudi officials and business leaders.
They included: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and wife, Christine Schwarzman; Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris and his wife, Marjorie Harris; Pershing Square founder Bill Ackman and his Israeli wife, former MIT professor Neri Oxman; Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff; Palantir CEO Alex Karp; Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla; and Paramount CEO David Ellison. They weren’t there because of their philanthropy, of course, but because they also happen to lead some of the most significant investment houses, technology firms and publicly traded companies in the world. But all of them have also donated millions of dollars, in some cases tens of millions, to Jewish and Israeli causes, particularly over the past two years.
Their inclusion at the gathering represents an opportunity to advance one of Israel’s and American Jewry’s most significant policy goals: normalization between Jerusalem and Riyadh. At the same time, it demonstrates the major shifts in American Jewish politics in recent decades, according to Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security advisor and senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School, who also teaches at Columbia University and Tel Aviv University.
Nearly 45 years ago, the United States was also preparing to sell top military technology to Saudi Arabia — the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) — despite intense opposition from Israel, which saw it as a major threat to its air superiority. Though ultimately unsuccessful, the American Jewish communal world lobbied hard against it. While the sale went through, the effort ultimately resulted in a formal American pledge a year later by then-President Ronald Reagan to maintain Israel’s so-called qualitative military edge, which was later enshrined in law.
Now, there is another proposed American sale of military technology to the Saudis — the F-35 stealth fighter jet — yet the American Jewish response has been dramatically different. “AIPAC didn’t really put up a fight,” Freilich told eJewishPhilanthropy, adding that the proposed sale is largely seen as a fait accompli and the Jewish establishment does not believe that it has the clout to change that.
Of course, Freilich said, there are substantial differences in the underlying circumstances regarding the F-35 sale and the AWACS sale in 1981, when the Saudi government had a much more combative relationship with Israel. “We’re in a very different reality than in ‘81,” he said. “Israel has a relationship with the Saudis today. They’re not an enemy anymore.”
And yet, the Israeli military has warned that Saudi F-35s would potentially threaten its regional air superiority, and Freilich said that a more effective fight against the sale could have earned Israel greater concessions, either toward advancing normalization or for different military technology.
The American Jewish institutional power that was far more potent in 1981 has been supplanted by the influence of individual American Jews, including those in attendance at last night’s White House dinner. “For Jewish businesspeople to have connections with the Saudis is not only not problematic, they can be a bridge,” Freilich said.
However, Freilich warned that while they can have an influence on geopolitical events, these Jewish business leaders are inherently constrained and are not a sufficient substitute. “Sure, they have clout, but they need to use it judiciously,” he said. That is why American Jews need to have a “really strong lobby,” Freilich said. “They don’t have the power that they once did, and that’s a real problem.”
THAT’S A WRAP
Political uncertainty, rising antisemitism, long-term planning take center stage at JFNA GA
National political uncertainty loomed large at this year’s Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Washington. The gathering convened in the nation’s capital just days after the federal government reopened — fortuitous timing for the roughly 2,000 federation professionals, Jewish communal leaders from 141 federations from across the continent who depended on air travel to make it to the capital, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim from the gathering. But beyond travel plans, the temperature in Washington — specifically mounting antisemitism on both sides of the political aisle — was a central topic of discussion for many of the event’s main stage speakers.
Return to normal: The conference, held a month into a ceasefire in Gaza, also marked the end of “emergency mode” for North American Jewry, offering an opportunity for renewed focus on both long-term strategy and the current challenges facing the Jewish People, as multiple speakers noted throughout the conference. During a session on navigating Israel education after the war and increased engagement due to the “Surge,” Mark Charendoff, president of Maimonides Fund, discussed the limitations of a foundation during moments of crisis. “I think foundations are really terrible in crisis mode. That’s what federations are good for. We’re not good [at it]. We tend to be long term and strategic. And now we’ve jumped from COVID to Ukraine to Oct. 7 in crisis mode, and we have to figure out the muscles to keep focused on this issue, but to move from crisis to normal,” said Charendoff. “We need to move from six-week plans to six-year plans and 10-year plans. Because this is not a short-term problem that, as we heard earlier in the panel, that’s ending with the ceasefire.”
Bonus: More than two-thirds of Jewish federation professionals believe that there is no “realistic future” for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an informal poll that was conducted at this week’s Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly. The poll was conducted both preceding and following a Sapir debate between John Podhoretz, editor of the conservative Commentary Magazine, who argued against the two-state solution’s viability, and Michael Koplow, chief policy officer of the Israel Policy Forum, who argued in favor of it, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
SUIT SETTLED
Virginia private school reaches settlement with Jewish parents over antisemitic harassment
A private K-8 school in Northern Virginia reached a settlement on Tuesday with the parents of an 11-year-old Jewish student who say their daughter faced months of antisemitic harassment that went unaddressed by school officials, reports Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider. According to the complaint, filed in July by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law and Washington-based firm Dillon PLLC, the student faced several antisemitic incidents while a student at Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, Va., including a history class where Adolf Hitler was included in a list of “strong historical leaders” and being told that Jews are “baby killers” and that they deserved to die because of the Israel-Hamas war. Kenneth Nysmith, the headmaster and owner of Nysmith, first told the parents to tell their daughter to “toughen up,” and then expelled all three of their children two days later.
Terms and conditions: Under the terms of the settlement, in addition to monetary relief to the family, Nysmith School agreed to establish a committee to review and investigate discrimination complaints — with an independent monitor evaluating the committee’s work. It also agreed to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and to provide staff with annual antisemitism training and students with annual education on antisemitism and the Holocaust for the next five years. The training will be led by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Nysmith also agreed to issue a public statement apologizing for expelling the children and making them feel unwelcome based on religious identity.
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
MODEL OF CHANGE
After Gaza, war on antisemitism continues: Moving from coordination to collaboration
“The fragmentation threatening Jewish communities today is not merely an internal concern; it represents an existential challenge that demands immediate attention. When communities and organizations drift into parallel efforts, generations struggle to communicate and Diaspora-homeland ties loosen, the foundation of Jewish resilience starts to fray,” writes consultant and author Omri Gefen in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “This is the moment to replace activity with alignment — to move from scattered efforts to a shared strategy and co-owned outcomes.”
The ‘effective collaboration analysis model’: “We start with value, the shared ‘why’ that makes working together worthwhile. Then we give that value structure: clear roles, decision-making processes and simple mechanisms that make joint work doable. We invest in relationships — trust, shared language and dialogue that keep diverse partners at the table — and we embed commitment and implementation — action items, follow-through and institutionalized practice that turn intent into operating routines. When these elements rise together, communities and organizations move from coordination (information sharing) to cooperation (joint activities) and ultimately to collaboration — co-owned strategy and outcomes with shared accountability.”
Worthy Reads
Ahead of Its Time: In the Jewish News Syndicate, Ron Kampeas looks at how the Conservative movement’s summer camp system led the way in incorporating inclusion of kids with disabilities and launching vocational programs for them. “Howard Blas, who directs the National Ramah Tikvah Network, the disabilities arm of the Conservative movement’s camps, told me he marvels at how profoundly camps have changed since 1970, when Herb and Barbara Greenberg launched Tikvah. … The Greenbergs, who now live in Israel (as does Blas), faced resistance within the Ramah system, Blas said. ‘People dismissed the idea, and they said, the normal kids are going to leave, the level of Hebrew is going to go down, Ramah is the big Hebrew-speaking camp, it’s going to ruin the structure of the camp, the finances are going to go kaput.’ None of that happened.” [JNS]
Idols of Flesh and Blood: In his Substack “Orthodox Conundrum Commentary,” Scott Kahn draws lessons for the Jewish People today from the life of the biblical patriarch Abraham. “Abraham’s greatness was manifest not only in discovering the truth about God, but also in his willingness to be lonely, to stand apart from the crowd, to live with the courage to act truthfully even when the consequences for himself were dire. We, the Jewish people, need the heroism to stand up against a world that has gone mad, that falls for propaganda and ignores the truth. … Yet that same heroic quality must also be directed towards ourselves, towards our leadership, towards those people who represent institutional power in politics and religion. When old ideas have become ossified and the powers that be become obsessed with their own survival, we need to act like Abraham and shatter the comfortable idols of complacency, learning to worship the God of truth rather than the God of convention.” [OrthodoxConundrumCommentary]
Be a Bright Spot: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Rashida Childress shares insights for fundraisers from Cherian Koshy, author of the forthcoming book Neurogiving: The Science of Donor Decision Making, and Jen Shang, director of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy. “‘In a time of stress and distress, when [a potential donor’s] ordinary day would be filled with mundane activities, think about things that could potentially brighten their days up,’ says Shang, whose research includes donor psychology and donor love languages. ‘Something that is heartwarming but playful.’ While nonprofits working on serious and often gut-wrenching issues may initially think it’s hard to show joy, Shang says it is both possible and important.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Unforced Errors: In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Janie Judd identifies ways that nonprofit leaders waste funders’ money and cause their organizations to fail to achieve their own goals. “Who wants to admit to their board that they wasted $100,000 because they were too focused on their vision to pay attention to the infrastructure of their organization? (I wouldn’t raise my hand either.) And yet, I’ve seen it happen again and again, with costs measured in recruitment, lost donors, staff morale, and training. This pattern emerges when organizations become so consumed by their mission and vision that they undermine their ability to achieve it. I call this cause blindness.” [SSIR]
Word on the Street
Selling for $236 million, a painting by Gustav Klimt from the estate of cosmetics heir and philanthropist Leonard A. Lauder became the second-most expensive painting ever sold at auction at Sotheby’s, on Tuesday evening in New York City…
The Canada Revenue Agency revoked the tax-exempt status of Herut Canada, 15 months after revoking the statuses of the Canadian arm of the Jewish National Fund and the Ne’eman Foundation of Canada…
France posthumously promoted Alfred Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general, 130 years after the French army captain was wrongly convicted on charges of treason…
One person was killed and three others injured in a combined stabbing-car-ramming terror attack in the West Bank…
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations hosted a roundtable discussion with recently released Israeli hostages yesterday in New York City…
The Times of Israel spotlights the inaugural Pride for Israel conference in Los Angeles last week, which was launched by StandWithUs, A Wider Bridge, the American Jewish Committee of Los Angeles and the Israeli-American Council to push back against anti-Israel advocacy in the LGBTQ community…
Maj. Gen. (res.) Noam Tibon, who rose to international prominence after his rescue of his son’s family and others during the Oct. 7 terror attacks, is joining Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party ahead of next year’s elections…
Also in Israeli politics, former Knesset member Einat Wilf has launched a new political party, the Oz (Strength) party…
Harvard’s undergraduate student population is voting this week on three Israel divestment proposals…
A Maryland man is facing up to 169 years in prison after pleading guilty to dozens of federal charges in connection with more than 40 threatening letters and postcards sent to 25 Jewish institutions spanning multiple states…
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has given tens of thousands of dollars in interest-free loans to students who lost “scholarships, housing or other support” due to their anti-Israel campus advocacy…
Nvidia joined the Lightspeed-led $200 million funding round for AI startup AA-I Technologies, founded by Mobileye’s Amnon Shashua…
Joe Levin, a World War II veteran and Washington-area defense attorney, died earlier this month at 103…
Transitions
The Combat Antisemitism Movement appointed former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Aaron Keyak, Republican Jewish Coalition board member Barbara Feingold and former Democratic Governors Association Executive Director Noam Lee to the organization’s advisory board; and the board’s new chair will be Arie Lipnick, senior advisor to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)…
Pic of the Day
The five inaugural recipients of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Amber Awards stand onstage yesterday with the foundation’s president, Winnie Sandler Grinspoon (left), at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly. The recipients are: Rabbi Ana Bonnheim, founding executive director of the Jewish Learning Collaborative; Jeremy Burton, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston; Jon Falk, vice president of Hillel International’s Israel Action and Addressing Antisemitism Program; Elana Frank, founder and CEO of the Jewish Fertility Foundation; and Michelle Koplan, CEO of BB Camp in Portland, Ore.
The awards, which were announced at last year’s GA, are presented to five Jewish professionals “who have made exceptional contributions to the Jewish world and who, with leadership and dedication, have strengthened Jewish life in meaningful and enduring ways,” the foundation said.
Earlier this year, Sandler Grinspoon told eJP that the JFNA gathering was selected as the venue for the award ceremony as it allows the recipients to “receive the recognition and applause and honor that we want them to receive.”
Birthdays
Editor-in-chief of Time magazine, Samuel P. Jacobs…
Retired New York state Supreme Court judge, his tenure on “The People’s Court” was shorter than that of his wife “Judge Judy,” Jerry Sheindlin turns 92… Attorney, investment banker and former U.S. ambassador to the U.K., Louis B. Susman turns 88… Professor of chemistry at Stanford University, Richard Neil Zare turns 86… Fifteen-term member in the U.S. House of Representatives (D-NY) until 2013, he is now a partner in Gotham Government Relations, Gary Ackerman turns 83… Fashion designer whose name appears on clothing, perfumes, watches and jewelry, Calvin Klein turns 83… Founder and president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute, James J. Zogby turns 80… U.S. ambassador to Germany from 2022 until July 2024, following 18 years as president of the University of Pennsylvania, Amy Gutmann turns 76… Los Angeles based real estate investor, Sydney Ilene Cetner… Owner of Patty’s Piano Studio in Santa Monica, Calif., Patricia Fiden… Cosmetic dentist and chairman of pharma company Akelos, Inc., Steven Fox, DDS… California state senator until 2022, Robert Myles “Bob” Hertzberg turns 71… Dean and professor of Jewish history, literature and law at Yeshiva University, Rabbi Ephraim Kanarfogel turns 70… Past chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and president of Millennium Properties R/E Inc., Daniel Hyman turns 70… Academy Award-winning screenwriter, producer, director and lyricist, best known as the writer of “Being John Malkovich,” Charlie Kaufman turns 67… Angel investor, investment banker and president of Sunrise Financial Group, Nathan Low… Retired member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party, he served as Israel’s minister of finance for five years, Moshe Kahlon turns 65… Officer of NORPAC New York and a partner in a New York law firm, Trudy Stern… Co-president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Lisa Eisen… Director of state and local government affairs for SAIC, Eric Finkbeiner… Co-founder of Optimistic Labs, Seth Cohen… Member of the New York state Assembly since 2005, Andrew D. Hevesi turns 52… New York Times best-selling novelist, she is also a professor at Rutgers University-Camden, Lauren Grodstein turns 50… Gymnast, she was a member of the Magnificent Seven, the women’s U.S. gymnastics team at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Kerri Allyson Strug turns 48… Senior program director at M2: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education, Rachel Hillman… Former congressional staffer, Michael Dale-Stein turns 38… Professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, John Maxwell Homa turns 35… Managing director at Climate Power, John D. Axelrod… European deals reporter at the Financial Times based in London, Ivan Levingston…
