Learn, Debate, and Engage: Five Nights, Five Advocates

Eric Giesser, AIPAC Regional Director
Monday, June 10, 7:00 p.m.
Meet AIPAC

RESCHEDULED FROM JANUARY.

Eric Giesser, AIPAC Regional Director, joined The American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 1999 when he opened AIPAC's first office in New England. Under his leadership, the pro-Israel community has systematically developed and strengthened relationships with every Senator and member of Congress in New England. Additionally, AIPAC's annual campaign has grown more than tenfold. Before joining AIPAC, Eric worked for the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston where he supervised the $5 million campaigns for the business and professional teams. He has also managed one of the most profitable business centers for a Washington Post educational subsidiary and has held significant positions in state government. Mr. Giesser's political experience includes service as a state deputy field director in the 1988 Presidential Election, as well as staffing a Congressional race in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Giesser holds an MBA with high honors, concentrating in not-for-profit management from Boston University Graduate School of Management where he also taught as an adjunct lecturer. Mr. Giesser received his B.A. from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

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Past entries in the series:

An Overview of the Current Situation in the Middle East
with Shai Bazak, the Israeli Consul General to New England
Monday, October 22, 7:30 p.m.

Mr. Bazak has held many positions in Israeli government and the private sector. He served as media director and spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu when he was the leader of the opposition party (1994-1996) and during his first term as a prime minister (1996-1998). Mr. Bazak was the Consul General of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico (1998-2000) and was very involved in the launching of the North American organization Nefesh B'nefesh, which promotes Aliyah to Israel. Mr. Bazak began his post in November 2010, and he currently resides in Boston with his wife, Anna, and their three-year old twin daughters--Raz and Noya.

US Leadership in 2013:
Advancing Israel's Peace and Security
with Jeremy Ben-Ami,
Executive Director, J Street
Monday, December 17, 7:30 p.m.

Mr. Ben-Ami is President of J Street, a liberal advocacy organization in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. Mr. Ben-Ami was President Bill Clinton's Deputy Domestic Policy Adviser, and later Policy Director on Howard Dean's presidential campaign. He was most recently Senior Vice President at Fenton Communications. Earlier he was the Communications Director for the New Israel Fund and started the Israeli … rm Ben-Or Communications while living there in the late 1990s. Ben-Ami has worked with Jewish peace groups, including the Center for Middle East Peace and the Geneva Initiative-North America.

David Bernstein, Executive Director of the David Project
Monday, March 4, 7:30 p.m.
A Burning Campus? How we can win the hearts and minds of today's college students on Israel

David Bernstein became Executive Director in August 2010, overseeing The David Project's growth in its educational mission and institutional development. David spent 13 years at the American Jewish Committee, where he began as director of the Washington regional office and then served in management roles overseeing regional offices and national and local programming and advocacy. During his time at AJC, David was a leading advocate for Israel on the legislative, diplomatic, media and intergroup relations fronts. He was a founder of the Israel on Campus Coalition of Greater Washington.