Eli Hertz &
Jeff Wiesenfeld Honorees
New York – The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is pleased to announce that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton will be the Keynote Speaker at the annual ZOA Louis Brandeis Award Dinner. He will also receive ZOA’s Defender of Israel award. Caroline Glick, the Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post and syndicated columnist will receive the Ben Hecht Award for Outstanding Journalism in the Mideast. Morton Klein, National President of the ZOA, will also be speaking.
The Dinner will be held on Sunday, December 11, 2005; reception is at 5:30 PM, dinner at 6:30 PM at the Marriott Marquis Hotel New York City. Please call the ZOA Office 212-481-1500 to make reservations or for more information.
Eli Hertz, a pioneer in the personal computer industry will receive ZOA’s highest award, the Louis Brandeis Award. Mr. Hertz is a member of the US-Israel Science & Technology Commission, Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, AIPAC, CAMERA, Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He has published a number of books, most recently Reply. He is a child of Holocaust survivors and served seven years in the IDF as a paratrooper and was discharged with the rank of captain. He lives with his wife and 3 children in New York City.
Jeff Wiesenfeld, who will receive ZOA’s Distinguished Leadership Award, is a principal with Bernstein Investment Research & Management. He has worked for the FBI, for Congressman Thomas Martin, Queens Borough President Claire Shulman, Mayor Ed Koch, U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato and as Executive Assistant to New York Governor George Pataki. He served as New York City Director of the New York State Economic Development Agency, and is a member of the Boards of CUNY, and the UN Development Corp. He is a child of Holocaust survivors and is on the Board of the Queensborough College Holocaust Center, Folkbiene Yiddish Theatre, North Shore Hebrew Academy, and the JCRC of New York City. He is married with one daughter.
Amb. Bolton previously served as Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security as well as Assistant Secretary for International Organizational Affairs at the U.S. State Department, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice and General Counsel for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was the key player in repealing the U.N. Resolution stating that “Zionism is racism.” He is a graduate of Yale and Yale Law School.
Caroline Glick was an officer in the IDF, a Coordinator of Negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, was Assistant Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Her writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Times, Ma’ariv and many more. She has appeared on MSNBC, Fox and all of Israel’s major networks. She was the first Israeli journalist reporting from the front lines in Iraq. She is a senior researcher at IDF Operational Theory Research Institute and a lecturer in tactical warfare at IDF’s Command and Staff College and is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC. She made aliyah in 1991 after graduating from Columbia and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In 2003, Ma’ariv named her the most prominent woman in Israel.
Ben Brafman, the distinguished criminal defense attorney will be the Master of Ceremonies. New York Magazine called him “the best criminal defense lawyer in New York.” He was also the recipient of the “Outstanding Private Criminal Defense Practitioner Award” for 2005 from the New York State Bar Association. He has represented a wide range of high-profile celebrities, business leaders and professionals in major criminal cases throughout the country. Mr. Brafman is active in a wide variety of charitable and religious organizations both in the U.S. and Israel including the Kulanu Torah Academy, and the Israel Cancer Research Foundation.
Bob Guzzardi and Irwin Hochberg, both members of the ZOA National Board, are the Dinner Co-Chairs. Mr. Hochberg is a past National Chairman of Israel Bonds, Chair of the New York City Jewish Federation and a member of the AIPAC Executive Committee. Mr. Guzzardi is a prominent businessman and attorney who is a member of the Executive Committee of AIPAC and is on the Board of the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia.
Recently, the ZOA was described by The Wall Street Journal as “the most credible advocate for Israel on the American Jewish scene.” The Jerusalem Post said, “The ZOA is one of the most important and influential Jewish groups in the U.S.”
The ZOA’s Capitol Hill Office works closely with Congress on issues of import to U.S.-Israel relations. The ZOA Center for Law and Justice works through the U.S. judicial system in defense of Israel and Jewish rights, and has recently filed a complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Laws concerning discrimination against Jewish students at universities. The ZOA Campus Action Network helps Jewish students fight pro-Arab propaganda on campus through bringing speakers, showing films, distributing educational materials, and holding workshops.
ZOA has recently launched a new pro-Israel magazine called The College Zionist and distributed it at over 100 campuses throughout the country. The ZOA also stages rallies, holds press conferences, publishes full-page newspaper “issue ads,” and creates publications, to defend Israel’s good name and expose the Palestinian Authority’s pro-terrorist behavior. The ZOA is widely credited with leading the charge to expose and publicize the Palestinian Authority’s violations of the Oslo accords and President Bush’s “Road Map” plan.
ZOA speakers appear regularly on the TV and radio programs of the three major networks as well as of the cable TV leaders Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN.
Earlier this year, the ZOA brought more than 300 pro-Israel activists from around the country on its 2005 D.C. Mission to Washington. They met with Members of Congress and staff members to seek support for the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act and the Palestinian Arab Compliance Act, as well as resolutions against Hamas and other terrorist groups. They also spoke to lawmakers about the dangers of creating a Palestinian Arab state, as proposed by the Bush Road Map plan.