New York – The distinguished and eloquent Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Danny Ayalon will be the featured speaker at the Zionist Organization of America’s (ZOA) annual Mission to Washington, D.C. on June 21-22.
His Excellency Amb. Ayalon will be addressing over 250 ZOA delegates from 20 states, including several dozen students, on issues of importance to strong US-Israel relations. Amb. Ayalon has worked extensively with the US administration and Congress in advancing economic, political and diplomatic relations.
As Israel’s top diplomat in the United States, he travels widely outside of Washington, D.C., meeting with both Christian and Jewish leaders, business executives, academics and political leaders to promote better understanding of Israel and deepen cooperation with it at all levels.
The Ambassador frequently appears in the national and international news media — both in the press and broadcast.
Ambassador Ayalon has served the last three consecutive Israeli Administrations, most recently as the Chief Foreign Policy Adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. From 1997-2001, Ambassador Ayalon was the Deputy Foreign Policy Adviser to former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu, during which time he was a member of the Israeli delegations to the Sharm El-Sheikh (1997), Wye Plantation (1998) and Camp David (2000) summits.
He served in New York from 1993-1997 as the Director of the Bureau of Israel’s Ambassador to the UN and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Panama from 1991-1992. Born in 1955, Ambassador Ayalon is a native of Tel Aviv. He is a graduate of Tel Aviv University’s Economics Department and holds an MBA from Bowling Green University in Ohio. He is a retired captain in the Armored Corps of the Israel Defense Forces.
Other speakers addressing the ZOA during ZOA’s dinner on Capitol Hill on June 21 include Yigal Carmon, Director of the world renowned MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute). MEMRI reports on what the Arab and Islamic media and leaders are saying to their constituents in Arabic. He has been quoted in the NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox TV, and virtually every major media outlet. Mr. Carmon has also served as an advisor on terrorism in the administrations of Prime Minister Shamir, Rabin and Barak. A distinguished speaker, to be announced, will speak on the subject of Saudi Arabia.
During the ZOA luncheon on June 22nd, there will be several dozen US Senators and Congresspersons scheduled to address the ZOA delegates.
ZOA delegates will be working on issues including support for the ZOA-initiated Saudi Arabia Accountability Act; conditioning U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority with their compliance of the Road Map; moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem; asking the U.S. to pressure PA Chief Abbas to demand Hamas’ abrogation of their charter, which calls for Israel’s obliteration and the killing of Jews, as a condition for participating in Palestinian Arab elections.