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Israeli Elections 2006: Politics, Poverty, Peace & the Social Divide

The New Israel Fund (NIF) and Americans for Peace Now (APN) will host a Capitol Hill panel discussion on Wed., January 11, with expert panelists

The New Israel Fund (NIF) and Americans for Peace Now (APN) will be hosting a Capitol Hill panel discussion:

Israeli Elections 2006: Politics, Poverty, Peace & the Social Divide

Wednesday, January 11, 2006, 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.

Room 2200 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

For more information, please contact Lewis Roth/APN at (202) 728-1893 or Naomi Paiss/NIF at (202) 842-0900.

Expert panelists will explore the political aspects of the Israeli elections to be held on March 28th, as well as key domestic and foreign policy issues that are being debated during the race.

Panel Moderator:

Ambassador Samuel Lewis spent 31 years as a career diplomat prior to his most recent government service as Director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff. His Foreign Service career included eight tumultuous years as U.S. Ambassador to Israel under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan from 1977 to 1985, a period which spanned negotiation of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and the 1982 Lebanon War. Since retiring from the Foreign Service, he has been closely affiliated with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as Senior Policy Advisor and with the Brookings Institution, the Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute, and research centers at Tel Aviv University and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Panelists:

Debra DeLee is President & CEO of Americans for Peace Now. Prior to joining APN in 1997, she was selected by President Bill Clinton to serve as CEO of the 1996 Democratic National Convention, successfully managing an event attended by 20,000 delegates and guests, as well as 15,000 journalists. In 1993, DeLee served as Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and was appointed DNC Chairman by President Clinton in November 1994. A teacher by profession, DeLee worked as Director of Government Relations for the National Education Association in the early 1990s.

Peter Edelman is President of the Board of the New Israel Fund, as well as a past Co-Chair and a current Board member of APN. He is also a professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. During President Clinton's first term, Edelman served as counselor to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala and then as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Edelman has been Associate Dean of the Law Center, Director of the New York State Division for Youth, and Vice President of the University of Massachusetts. He was a legislative assistant to Sen. Robert Kennedy and was Issues Director for Sen. Edward Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1980. Edelman's book, Searching for America's Heart; RFK and the Renewal of Hope, was published by Houghton-Mifflin in January 2001.

Larry Garber is CEO/Executive Director of the New Israel Fund. Prior to joining NIF, he served as a senior policymaker with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1993-1999 and as Director of USAID's West Bank and Gaza Mission from 1999-2004. Before joining USAID, Garber worked with the National Democratic Institute, the International Human Rights Law Group, and Steptoe and Johnson law firm. He has served as a consultant on election-related matters for the Organization of American States, the UN, and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe. Garber has written extensively on issues relating to human rights, democratization, election monitoring, and Palestinian political and economic development.

Lewis Roth is the Assistant Executive Director of Americans for Peace Now. He has worked in policy and public affairs positions in Washington, D.C. for over twenty years, including three years with Sen. John Glenn and nearly five years with Rep. Anna Eshoo. In addition, he has held public affairs positions with the National Jewish Democratic Council and British Aerospace, Inc.