Bush Visit May Boost Olmert
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — For the more than 50 American Jewish leaders invited to join President Bush’s special delegation to Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations this week, the hottest ticket is for Mr. Bush’s speech Thursday at the Knesset.
Although the people on the list, which includes everyone from author Elie Wiesel to the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, are guaranteed face time with Israel’s president at a conference tomorrow and with America’s president at a reception Thursday evening, a place in the audience for Mr. Bush’s Knesset speech is not guaranteed.
“I’m still trying to get my ticket,” the vice president for public policy for United Jewish Communities, William Daroff, said in an interview.
Mr. Bush will arrive in Israel tomorrow for a conference sponsored by Israel’s president, Shimon Peres. He is scheduled to speak at 8 p.m. on a panel with Mr. Peres and Prime Minister Olmert titled, “Sixty Years of Friendship: Israel and the U.S.A.”
The description of the event from a brochure of the conference describes the many differences between America and the Jewish state in language, geography, and size, but ends with these words: “Yet despite these palpable differences, when Israelis and Americans look at one another, they see something of themselves on the other side.”
The conference also features panels on everything from robotic technology to the clash between Jews and Muslims. One panel is titled, “The Jewish People: In Need of a Good Publicist.” It will feature presentations from Mr. Foxman and from a pollster for President Clinton, Stanley Greenberg.
Mr. Bush’s visit may give a prestige boost to Mr. Olmert, who is being investigated on corruption charges involving a Long Island businessman. In an interview yesterday with Israeli television, Mr. Bush described Mr. Olmert as “a frank man, an honest man, an open man, a guy easy to talk to and somebody who understands the vision necessary for Israelis’ security.”
Mr. Bush also said his vision for the current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which appear to have stalled in recent weeks, remains. Last week the White House announced that there were no plans during this trip for a three-way meeting between Mr. Bush, Mr. Olmert, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Such a meeting in November 2007 at Annapolis, Md., kicked off the current round of talks, which Mr. Bush has said he hopes will result in the establishment of a new Palestinian Arab state by the end of his presidency.
Participants in the trip said that the members of the president’s delegation to Israel are required to pay for their own travel and accommodations when in Israel. Most of the delegation will be staying at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, whose room rates begin at around $400 a night.
The delegation that will attend celebrations in honor of the 60th anniversary of Israel:
Dr. Miriam Adelson, Chairwoman, Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research
Mr. Sheldon Adelson, Chairman of the Board, Las Vegas Sands Corporation
Mr. Moshe Aflalo, CEO of Aflalo Equities
Mr. Neil Auerbach, Managing Partner, Hudson Clean Energy Partners
Mr. Kenneth Bialkin, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLC
Mr. Elliott Broidy, Chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Management
Mr. Matthew Brooks, Executive Director, Republican Jewish Coalition
Mr. Alan Casden, Chairman and CEO of Casden Properties LLC
Mr. Stanley Chesley, President of the National Jewish Fund
Mr. William Daroff, Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington Office United Jewish Communities
Mr. Nathan Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Mr. Michael David Epstein, President of Sensormatic Security Corporation
Mr. Donald Etra, Attorney, Law Offices of Donald Etra
Ms. Nancy Falchuk, National President, Hadassah
Ms. Selma Fisch, Founder, Fisch Properties
Mr. David Flaum, Chairman, Republican Jewish Coalition
Ms. Marilyn Fox, Chairman of the Fox Family Foundation and Former President of the St. Louis Jewish Community Center
The Honorable Sam Fox, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium
Mr. Abraham Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League
Mr. Howard Friedman, President, AIPAC
Mr. Tony Gelbart, Chairman and Co-Founder of Nefesh B’Nefesh
Mr. Sander Gerber, Chairman and CEO, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP
Mr. Marc Goldman, Farmland Dairies
The Honorable Phil Gordon, Mayor of the City of Phoenix, Arizona
Mr. Richard Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress
Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, President, Beverly Capital Management LLC
Mr. David Hager, President, Hager Pacific
Ms. Cheryl Halpern, Member, CPB Board of Directors
Mr. Uri Harkham, CEO, Jonathan Martin Fashion Group
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance
Mr. Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Mr. Murray Huberfeld, Chairman, Centurion Credit Management LP
Rebbetizin Esther Jungreis, Founder and President of Hineni
Dr. Henry Kissinger, Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc.
Dr. Richard Land, President, Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Mr. Ronald Lauder, President, World Jewish Congress and Chairman, Jewish National Fund
Mr. Eliot Lauer, Senior Partner, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle
Ms. Linda Law, Founder, Law and Associates
Mr. Michael Lebovitz, Senior Vice President, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
The Honorable Jay Lefkowitz, Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea
Rabbi David Lincoln, Senior Rabbi, Park Avenue Synagogue, New York City
The Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor of the State of Hawaii
The Honorable Earle Mack, Senior Partner, the Mack Company
Rabbi Isaac Neuman, Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple, Champaign, Illinois
Mr. Michael Oren, Senior Fellow, Shalem Center, Jerusalem; Professor Georgetown University
Mr. Ronald Plotkin, Former COO, Monster.com Directional Marketing
Steve Poizner, Insurance Commissioner, State of California
Mr. Bruce Ramer, Attorney and Partner, Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown
Mr. J. Philip Rosen, Attorney, Partner, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Mr. William Safire, Chairman, Dana Foundation
Mr. Lee Samson, President and CEO, SNF Management
Mr. Lenny Sands, Chairman, Alchemy Worldwide
Mr. Richard Schneider, Managing Member, Bunker Capital LLC
Mr. Fred Schwartz, Founder, the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation
The Honorable Melvin Sembler, Chairman of the Board of the Sembler Company
Mr. Dan Senor, Founding Partner, Rosemont Capital
Mr. Joe Shapira, Managing Partner, Java Equities LLC
Ms. Florence Shapiro, Co-Chairwoman of the Education Policy Taskforce for the National Council of State Government
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Director, Washington Office of American Friends of Lubavitch
Dr. Robert Shillman, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cognex Corporation
Mr. Richard Sideman, President, American Jewish Committee
Mr. Mark Siegel, President of ReMY Investors & Consultants, Inc.
Rabbi Michael Siegel, Norman Asher Rabbinic Chairman and Senior Rabbi
The Honorable Ned Siegel, U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Mr. Ron Silver, President Emeritus, Actors’ Equity Association; Board of Directors, U.S. Institute of Peace
The Honorable Martin Silverstein, Private Investor and Senior Counsel, Greenberg Traurig
Mr. Paul Singer, General Partner, Elliott Associates, LP
The Honorable Clifford Sobel, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil
Mr. Jaime Sohacheski, Chairman, Crown Realty and Development Corporation
Mr. Ronald Steinhart, Retired CEO, Commercial Banking, Bank One Corporation
Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, Founder and Director, Gateways Organization
Mr. Stephen Trachtenberg, President Emeritus, University Professor of Public Service, George Washington University
Ms. June Walker, Chairperson, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Mr. Leslie Wexner, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Limited Brands
Mr. Elie Wiesel, University Professor; Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities; Professor of Philosophy and Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences; President, the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Mr. Fred Zeidman, Chairman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Mr. Mark Zucker, Managing Member, Dorchester Capital
Mr. Mortimer Zuckerman, Chairman and Editor in Chief of U.S. News & World Report; Publisher of New York Daily News; Co-Founder and Chairman of Boston Properties Inc.