Category: Uncategorized

The original article can be found on The Huffington Post

In recent years, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement has steadily advanced a poisonous culture of hate and anti-Semitism in our country. Across college campuses and in churches, in labor unions, academic institutions and in shareholder meetings of American Corporations, they have sought to demonize the State of Israel, with the eventual goal of destroying it.

Yet, what many do not realize is that the BDS agenda threatens not only the Middle East’s one democratic state; it threatens the entire democratic world, and the U.S. is in the eye of its storm. The tie that binds together the radical leftists and radical Islamists driving forward the BDS Movement is a common hatred for the U.S. and for the Western values and freedoms that America, Europe and Israel share. Indeed, BDS leaders publically call for the destruction of the very society that protects their right to free speech.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at exactly what the most senior BDS leaders have to say about the United States.

BDS leaders hate America’s leadership role around the world. In an op-ed for the International Socialist Review titled “Palestine, BDS, and the battle against US imperialism,” Purdue University professor Bill Mullen, one of the BDS leaders who lobbied the American Studies Association to adopt a boycott of Israel, writes, “We can build a still-stronger BDS movement beginning in the name of Palestinian freedom and ending in a permanent blow against American empire.”

BDS leaders hate America’s democracy – and have even called for violent attacks to overturn our democratic system. During a rally against the Iraq War in San Francisco, Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian – one of the primary BDS leaders in the U.S. and the founder of Students for Justice in Palestine – issued a call to action that was nothing short of inciting violence against the American people, saying: “Are you angry? Well, we’ve been watching intifada in Palestine, we’ve been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don’t have an intifada [armed struggle] in this country? …and it’s about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here…They’re going to say [that] some Palestinian are being too radical; well, you haven’t seen radicalism yet!”

BDS leaders despise our military, and support attacks on our troops. At that same rally, Bazian explicitly stated his support for attacks on American troops in Iraq saying, “The occupation is a source of tremendous violence against Iraqis. I think we’ve got to support the resistance; we’ve got to say that we support attacks against the occupying forces.” Bazian went on to call for an all-out assault on America: “[W]e in this movement [should] support the resistance against American imperialism by any means necessary.”

BDS leaders hate our justice system and disparage the work of our police officers. During the racially charged Ferguson, Missouri, riots, BDS leaders eagerly breached their alleged Israel-focused mandate and reveled in the opportunity to attack the US justice system and police security forces. Brazenly exploiting the tragedy, the BDS Movement released an official statement accusing the US justice system of “racism, racial discrimination and disenfranchisement.” They also condemned police forces for “unbridled violence,” “militarized attack[s],” and “dehumanization” of the Ferguson community.

They hate our capitalist system and seek to dismantle the global economy. Among BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti’s most egregious edicts, is a call to overthrow the American economic system. “Opposing the imperial militarization and savage capitalism in this country,” Barghouti said, “directly benefits the peoples of the world, including the Palestinians.”

How do we respond? We must no longer limit our perspective and debate on BDS to its repercussions for Israel alone. BDS is not Israel’s problem, or a Jewish problem; it is a problem for every American who values democratic freedoms.

History shows that what starts with the Jewish people never ends with the Jewish people. Radical Islam and the radical left are targeting Israel now, but —evidenced by their own statements — their bigger target is the Europe and the United States.

Today, this hate movement is after Israel. But tomorrow, they’re coming for the entire Western world and our way of life. Today, Brussels, Paris and Europe may have reached a point of no return, but in America we must stop them before it is too late.

Follow Adam Milstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AdamMilstein

This article was originally posted on The Jerusalem Post

On Sunday, the Israeli-American Council will host the IAC Los Angeles Gala 2016, marking a moment of new public prominence for our organization – and its rapid growth across the US.

In the past three years, we have expanded from a single office and a few hundred members in Los Angeles, into a national movement with 10 regional offices – 250,000 members and growing – and a range of groundbreaking national programs.
Yet, we are not just building America’s fastest-growing Jewish organization, we are creating a new identity.
Before we founded the IAC, no one used the term “Israeli-American.”
For years, Israelis lived in America with their suitcases packed, claiming that they were only in the US temporarily and were ready to go back at any moment.

You were forced to label yourself as either American, or as an Israeli who was living in the US. Today we can proudly embrace an Israeli- American identity – centered on that the idea that while our home is in America, our Jewish homeland will always be Israel.

We are engaged as a community as never before in American life, but our thoughts, prayers and conversations are often focused on Israel. In recent months, watching our Israeli brothers and sisters live under constant danger of terrorism and existential dangers, we have felt a deep sense of responsibility to make it clear that they do not face these threats alone.

Through constant text messages, WhatsApp group communications, and phone calls to relatives, we check in with our friends and family back in Israel to ensure that all are safe and sound. With each attack, we feel a deep sense of pain. At IAC events and in conversations with our friends, neighbors, colleagues and acquaintances, we work persistently to explain to the American people what it means to live – day after day – under the specter of terrorism.

We look out at Israel’s difficult neighborhood and recognize the grave dangers facing our Jewish homeland – the potential of a nuclear Iran on the horizon; Hamas tunnels and Hezbollah rockets, ISIS on our southern and eastern borders, and radical Islamist groups in Gaza.

We watch the presidential election closely, paying keen attention as to how the next administration will continue to build the US-Israel partnership. Our organization believes Israeli-Americans’ fluent understanding of both cultures uniquely positions us to serve as a bridge between the Israeli people and the American people.

In particular, the IAC is now engaging Israeli-Americans as a strategic asset for our brothers and sisters in Israel in the fight against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, whose mission is to eradicate the State of Israel by nonmilitary means.

We recently hosted the first-ever meeting at the Cybertech conference in Tel Aviv to tap into Israel’s most brilliant tech minds for the fight against BDS. This month, IAC members launched a partner advocacy organization called the Israeli-American Nexus, which will advocate with policy-makers on behalf of the Israeli-American community and work to advance legislation to ensure that US state and local governments boycott Israel’s boycotters.

With all of these exciting developments, I’m confident that the IAC is just getting started. Rooted in our emerging Israeli-American identity, we will continue to expand across America to strengthen the Jewish people, the Jewish state and the US-Israel alliance.

ADAM MILSTEIN IS AN ISRAELI-AMERICAN PHILANTHROPIST, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF THE ISRAELI-AMERICAN COUNCIL, REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEUR AND PRESIDENT OF THE ADAM AND GILA MILSTEIN FAMILY FOUNDATION.

Follow him on Twitter @AdamMilstein and @AdamMilsteinIAC.

This was originally posted on the Times of Israel Blog

The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation proudly supports AIPAC’s Campus Allies Mission, which brings non-Jewish, pro-Israel political activists to Israel for the first time. The on-the-ground experiences in the Holy Land teach participants about the importance of the United States-Israel relationship and gives them a deeper understanding of Israel’s strategic, social, and security issues, right in the heart of the Holy Land. Stephen Fiehler, an alumnus of our Campus Allies, has shared how the Campus Allies Mission has impacted his life and view of Israel. You can read his story below.

My AIPAC Campus Allies trip to Israel in May 2010 was enlightening and inspirational. Seeing what Israelis have created in less than a century, despite being surrounded by enemies, demonstrates what humans are capable of accomplishing.

Most media outlets portray Palestinians as innocent victims in the hands of the intransigent, aggressive Israelis. This trip helped me reconsider and recreate the image of Israel that the news had offered. Standing on the Golan Heights, observing the locations of the security barriers and learning more about the history of the conflict, gave me a new understanding, respect and sympathy for Israel’s predicament. The American-Israel relationship has become personally important to me, and the trip has made me much better at educating people about Israel and the issues it faces.

The religious experience, for me, was overwhelming as well. Standing in Capernaum where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, walking the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, and visiting the location of the Last Supper, strengthened my faith and increased my love for Christ. For this reason, among many others, I’m so grateful for AIPAC and the Milstein Family Foundation.

Today, Stephen Fiehler lives and works in New York City as a healthcare IT consultant specializing in cardiology. Despite his nonpolitical career path, he will always have a passion for politics and foreign policy, and will always do his best to educate people on the true history of the conflict and the resilience of the Israeli people.

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To learn more about the philanthropic work of Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation, visit http://milsteinff.org. Also – check out Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation on Facebook!

This post was originally on the Times of Israel Blog

I am a nonprofit executive at the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation and an Israeli-American — and I’m also a former Ernst & Young tax attorney who obtained an MBA from UCLA Anderson. I think, and mean, business. Pretty much everything I do is aimed at serving the foundation’s overall mission to strengthen the Jewish people and the State of Israel. So, I get frustrated whenever I see how the limited resources we have in the pro-Israel nonprofit world are being spent, or rather wasted. I am not talking about private jets and fancy offices — that’s not the case, and that is not the problem. I am talking about inefficiency and duplication. I am talking about numerous organizations that share a mission to help Israel, but will not share resources, know-how, contacts, or even just…merge?

In the for-profit world, collaboration happens when it makes sense — when both companies can benefit, and when they can find a way to split the upside fairly. For example, you will find many links between BuzzFeed, Bleacher Report, and CBS Sports. Why? Because it makes sense to use other websites’ content and swap traffic for certain topics. Wouldn’t it be great to see the same thing with pro-Israel organizations? See them share each other’s content on Facebook or re-tweet each other? I’m not saying it doesn’t happen at all, but I would love to see more of that.

What about some mergers and acquisitions? There are so many organizations that do the exact same thing, and even compete in the same markets, cities, and colleges, and for the same donors. What’s the point? The result is a tangled mess of organizations spending time, money and energy just to figure out what everyone else is doing. Every week I get emails and phone calls from people who are starting yet new organizations.

If you really care about Israel, next time you have an idea for something new — whether from within a nonprofit you work for or as an independent activist – first stop and think. Has it been tried in the past? What can you learn from someone else’s success or failure? It is a little tough to think about these things when you need to show your donors that you are the best, the first, and the only one doing a specific thing. But what is best for Israel?

What about better SEO? SMO? CRM systems? Crowdfunding campaigns? Many nonprofits don’t have those. Why? Because they need to keep their overhead low — funders like seeing that 90%-100% of their donation money goes towards activity. But wouldn’t it be great if some of that money also went towards systems that would make the organization’s activities more impactful and more visible? Or went towards bringing in experts who are expensive, but are amazingly professional and effective? These are things that Dan Pallotta talks about a lot — I recommend following his website and watching his TED Talks.

I know it’s tough. But if pro-Israel nonprofits can adopt more concepts from the for-profit world…the ultimate entity profiting will be Israel.

—

This post was written by Hadas Sella.

Hadas Sella is the Executive Director at the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Born and raised in Israel, Hadas has a dual degree in Law and Economics from the Tel Aviv University, and is a certified attorney in Israel. After working for a top-5 law firm in Jerusalem and then as a Tax Attorney at Ernst & Young in Tel Aviv, she moved to Los Angeles in 2012 and in June 2014 graduated from the UCLA Anderson MBA program. After graduation, Hadas was recruited to the Milstein Family Foundation as a Program Director. In her role, Hadas oversees the foundation’s activities, donations, grants and operations.

To learn more about the philanthropic work of Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation, visit http://milsteinff.org. Also – check out Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation on Facebook!

This article was originally posted on the Times of Israel Blog

Both Israel and California are centers of innovation, filled with brilliant minds and bold ideas. In so many spheres, Israelis and Californians have worked together to do extraordinary things – from building high-tech companies like WAZE, to advancing cutting-edge medical research, to pioneering revolutionary solutions in fields like agriculture and clean-tech.

In 2014, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and California Governor Jerry Brown signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to accelerate this collaborative innovation. Under the leadership of Israel’s Consul General in the Southwest David Siegel – and a range of partners, including the Israeli American Council (IAC) – this MOU is being leveraged on the ground to strengthen the California-Israel partnership in unprecedented ways.

U.S. policymakers are taking note of the extraordinary opportunities to work with Israel. West Hollywood and Israel have formed an HIV/AIDS Task Force. Beverly Hills and Israel signed an agreement to collaborate in a range of areas – from water conservation, cyber security, and public safety, to education and culture. From the central valley to downtown Los Angeles, Californians are looking to Israel –often described as a water superpower – for guidance on how to manage the state’s draught crisis.

This month, the IAC – working with Consul General Siegel and his team at the Los Angeles Consulate – helped to facilitate a historic collaborative agreement between the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and Israel’s Ministry of Science, which will foster university-to-university partnerships and joint funding opportunities in stem cell research.

The agreement will provide a new framework for advancing this cutting-edge research, with CIRM and Israel’s Ministry of Science providing funding for institutions from California and Israel, respectively. The benefits to both states – and all of humanity – are unmistakable. Soon researchers at Stanford, UCLA and Berkeley will have access to a significant stream of funding to work with their counterparts at the Technion and Tel Aviv University to tackle the deadliest diseases on the face of the earth – from cancer and diabetes, to Alzheimer’s and HIV-AIDS.

Jonathan Thomas, Chair of the CIRM Board was enthusiastic about the potential of tapping into the great reservoir of brainpower in Israel. Signing the agreement on behalf of CIRM, he said, “We want to attract the best science and most promising projects from everywhere in the world to California, and we are hopeful this agreement with the Ministry of Science will be an important step in creating strong and lasting collaborations with Israeli scientists.”

Israel’s Minister of Science, Technology, and Space Ofer Akunis flew to Los Angeles to sign the agreement, highlighting during his remarks at the signing ceremony the importance of Israeli innovation as a tool for the Jewish state to build bridges and fight the threat of BDS.

This work is just getting started. This week, we announced the launch of the Israeli-American Nexus (IANexus) – a new partner advocacy organization of the IAC that will work to make the voices of Israeli-Americans heard to policymakers across the country. The IANexus will work with other advocacy organizations, visionary leaders like Consul General Siegel, and American policymakers to help to facilitate agreements between U.S. State and Local agencies and their Israeli counterparts all across America.

We firmly believe the successful creation of partnerships in California should be a model for the rest of the country because Israel has somuch to offer to communities in all 50 states. The possibilities for collaboration are endless – from introducing Israeli water innovation to the communities of America’s Southwest, to bringing world-renowned Israeli researchers to great medical institutions, to facilitating new relationships in arts, culture, clean-tech, and high-tech.

In his farewell speech as Israel’s President Shimon Peres said, “Israel was born on the foundations of its principles. Today it grows on the shoulders of science.” Standing on the shoulders of the dynamic innovators of the Jewish state, we can help Israel to continue on its path of rapid growth, building bridges at the top levels of America’s government, business, and academia to improve the lives of our fellow citizens and benefit all of humanity.

See the original post on Times of Israel

This piece was co-written by Adam Milstein and Marc A. Greendorfer. A version of it previously appeared in the Huffington Post.

The Israeli people and the global pro-Israel community are waking up to the seriousness of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which has gained increasing traction at universities, academic associations, municipalities, churches, unions, pension funds, and investment portfolios in America and around the globe. Many are realizing that this Movement poses a serious threat to the Jewish state, the Jewish people, the American people and Western Civilization.

Yet, as we mobilize our effective response, it’s important to recognize that BDS is nothing new. Arab boycotts of Jewish interests in the British Mandate of Palestine started as early as 1922, more than twenty years before the establishment of a Jewish state in 1948. Restrictions were added in 1933, 1934 and 1936. An official, organized boycott of the Jewish community in Palestine, adopted by the Arab League in December 1945, persisted against Israel after it was founded, with the goal of isolating the Jewish state from the international community. Through the years, this boycott spread like a virus across the globe, resulting in institutionalized discrimination against Israeli goods and businesses. It is clear that those behind the BDS Movement have simply put old wine in a new bottle.

Furthermore, Arab anti-Israel and anti-American boycotts have been a part of life in the U.S. since the early 1970s – and past experience in fighting these anti-Semitic movements can, and should, guide our response in the present.

The effects of the Arab League Boycott in America were disruptive and outrageous, causing energy shortages, gas lines, rationing, economic stagflation and discrimination against Jewish Americans. The 1973 oil boycott alone cost the American economy billions of dollars, and turned American businesses and consumers into unwilling participants in an anti-Semitic campaign against Israel and the Jewish people.

In 1977, U.S. Congress voted overwhelmingly to approve legislation to protect American interests, making it a criminal offense to comply with the Arab League Boycott and imposing fines on American companies that did so. The U.S. Department of Commerce opened an office to oversee and implement the law, and many states followed the federal legislation with their own anti-boycott laws, which did help reduce the effects of the Arab League Boycott in the United States.

However, those behind the Arab League Boycott continued to search for opportunities to circumvent the law. In 2001, at the U.N.’s “Conference on Racism” held in Durban, South Africa, they found one, hijacking the conference’s agenda to force through a series of racist declarations attacking Israel. As the conference drew to a close, the Arab League met to formally call for a resumption of its boycott, which became the framework for what we know as the BDS Movement.

In truth, the latest boycott is even more dangerous than the original, as those behind BDS have learned from previous failures. BDS has effectively branded itself as a human rights movement, hiding its true intentions from the public –  the destruction of Israel, the demonization of the Jewish people and the erosion of the values essential to our Western Civilization –  and obscuring the role of the extremists, terrorists, and radicals behind the Movement.

The BDS Movement has effectively moved around the general language of existing American anti-boycott laws, claiming that these laws only apply to activities directly connected to the “Arab League Boycott” name. The pro-Israel community must reject this false dichotomy and vigilantly watch to make sure that federal, state, and local agencies are enforcing existing anti-boycott laws.

We must also enact new laws that specifically close any purported loopholes that BDS’ supporters exploit. This was recently accomplished at the U.S. federal level, when Representative Peter Roskam’s anti-BDS language was included in the Trade Promotion Authority passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. The American Congress may also consider anti-discrimination measures to combat the BDS Movement, as it promotes hatred and discrimination against Jewish Americans and other pro-Israel supporters, especially on college campuses.

BDS threatens a return to the same kind of economic and social turmoil that the Arab League Boycott created within the United States in the 1970s. We, as Americans, have to stop BDS in its tracks before the Movement gains any more traction. The future of Israel, America, Europe – and indeed, all of Western Civilization – is at stake.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American philanthropist, National Chairman of the Israeli-American Council, real estate entrepreneur, and President of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamMilstein and @AdamMilsteinIAC.

Follow Adam Milstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AdamMilstein

Original Article on JNS can be found here. Posted on February 10, 2016 by JNS.org.

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Science, Technology and Space Minister Ofir Akunis on Tuesday signed the first agreement of its kind between his ministry and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in the field of biotechnology, with an emphasis on stem cell research.

The agreement was facilitated by the Israeli-American Council (IAC), which encourages cooperation between the United States and Israel, and whose stated mission is “to build an active and giving Israeli-American community throughout the United States in order to strengthen the State of Israel, our next generation, and to provide a bridge to the Jewish-American community.”

The biotechnology deal is the “sharpest response to all the foolish initiatives to make academics boycott Israel, including here in California,” Akunis said at the signing ceremony, adding that “anyone who boycotts Israel—the loss is all his.”

Akunis continued, “This agreement will deepen the partnership between Israel and California, bringing together our most talented scientists to push the boundaries of stem cell research and advance medical breakthroughs in the treatment of diseases ranging from cancer and diabetes, to Alzheimer’s and HIV-AIDS.”

IAC Chairman Adam Milstein said at the event that the organization is “excited by the opportunity to promote one of the most pressing issues facing humanity, and strengthen the bond between the people of Israel and the American people.”

Dr. Jonathan Thomas, chairman of the CIRM Board, praised Israel’s scientific achievements.

“Israel has become an important center for stem cell research. As part of our new CIRM 2.0 approach to funding stem cell research, we want to attract the best science and most promising projects from everywhere in the world to California,” Thomas said.

Original post can be found here: Times of Israel

The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation is proud to support Jerusalem U’s film Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front, the first film to document the stories of Israeli high school graduates coming of age against the backdrop of Israel’s mandatory military service. Founder & CEO of Jerusalem U, Raphael Shore, shares how the film has reached hundreds of thousands of people, inspiring them and connecting them to Israel and the Jewish People. You can read his post below. 

Generous funding from the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation assisted Jerusalem U to produce and launch Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front in 2015 – and to leverage our impact and create a successful college screening campaign. We have reached 149 universities across North America and impacted more than 5,500 students through our film.

Adam and Gila’s guidance and support throughout the film’s distribution helped us to achieve incredible outcomes – connecting viewers to Israel in a deeper way, while transforming perceptions of Israel on campus.

“Beneath the Helmet reinforced why I should continue advocating for Israel – to make as big of an impact as I can.” – Ariel, Rutgers University

“The movie gave me a new appreciation for the unbelievable strength, commitment, and passion each Israeli soldier has to have to protect the state of Israel and our Jewish homeland. It made me stop and take a moment to register and question my own courage – whether I could be as brave as these men and women, who are exactly my age, and who are sacrificing everything they have for something far greater than themselves.” – Sophie Rose, gap-year student

“The students absolutely fell in love with the movie; even the next day in school, they could not stop talking about it… At a time when Israel is being attacked, especially by the youth in America, giving my students the ability to see firsthand what these soldiers go through offers another perspective of what life in Israel is really like. The students will not, mark my words, forget this experience.” – Jordan Lustman, Chairman, YULA Israel Advocacy Club

The film has now had 922 educational screenings, including 253 high schools, 149 colleges and 109 summer camps, and is available on Netflix and on El Al’s in-flight entertainment. It has also screened at 22 film festivals, including Hong Kong, “Seret,” the London Israeli Film Festival and Atlanta, the largest Jewish film festival in the world, and enjoyed a week-long theatrical run in both New York and Israel. The film came to Los Angeles with a special screening at the Saban Theater for 1,200 guests, co-sponsored by 25 local synagogues from all denominations. It had a sold-out screening and standing ovation at AIPAC’s National Policy Conference.

Beneath the Helmet has also been used to train athletes in leadership skills, and has been screened for some of the Philadelphia Eagles players, trainers and vice president, with a special address by IDF Lt. Eden. It was also screened in Cleveland with featured speaker David Blatt, former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Beyond screenings, the film has inspired a school curriculum for teens called “Basic Training,” a joint project of Jerusalem U and BBYO. In addition, some 1,100 Jewish Agency Shlichim (emissaries) have been trained to screen the film at Jewish summer camps. North American college campus screenings included four speaking tours with IDF soldiers reaching 44 campuses, including five universities in CA.

The statistics are astounding. In addition to the 84% of college students who said Beneath the Helmet inspired them, 70% of students indicated that the film offered insight into the IDF, communicated a positive narrative about Israeli soldiers and is a useful advocacy tool to promote Israel on campus – and nearly 50% of students that attended screenings were not previously engaged with pro-Israel organizations on campus

ʺBeneath the Helmet is a mind-blowing and eye-opening documentary… The soldiers in this film are very relatable and a true testament to Israel’s moral character and its diverse and equal society.ʺ – Alex Beyzer, CSUN 

“The event engaged new students, educated them about Israel, and provided an opportunity to humanize IDF soldiers as real people not far different from us.” – Cameron, DePaul University

Thanks to friends and supporters like the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, Beneath the Helmet has made a tremendous impact and has also helped raise the profile of Jerusalem U, placing us among the top-tier of Jewish organizations working in this space (read more about our 2015 highlights HERE).

This post was written by Hadas Sella.

Hadas Sella is the Executive Director at the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Born and raised in Israel, Hadas has a dual degree in Law and Economics from the Tel Aviv University, and is a certified attorney in Israel. After working for a top-5 law firm in Jerusalem and then as a Tax Attorney at Ernst & Young in Tel Aviv, she moved to Los Angeles in 2012 and in June 2014 graduated from the UCLA Anderson MBA program. After graduation, Hadas was recruited to the Milstein Family Foundation as a Program Director. In her role, Hadas oversees the foundation’s activities, donations, grants and operations.

Source: The Huffington Post

This piece was co-written by Adam Milstein and Marc A. Greendorfer.

In recent years, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement has gained increasing traction at universities, academic associations, municipalities, churches, unions, pension funds, and investment portfolios in America and around the globe. The pro-Israel community is now waking up to the seriousness of the danger that this movement poses to the Jewish state, the Jewish people, the American people and the U.S.

Yet, as we mobilize our community to action, it’s important to recognize that BDS is nothing new. Those behind this campaign have simply put old wine in a new bottle. Anti-Israel and anti-American boycotts initiated in the Middle East have been a part of American life since the early 1970s – and past experience in fighting these anti-Semitic Movements should guide our response in the present.

Arab boycotts of Jewish interests in the Land of Israel started as early as 1922, more than two decades before the establishment of a Jewish state in 1948. Arabs who violated this boycott were physically attacked by their brethren. Increasingly restrictive boycotts were instituted in 1933, 1934 and 1936. An official organized boycott of the Jewish community in Palestine was adopted by the Arab League in December 1945, and persisted against Israel after its founding, with the goal of isolating the Jewish state from the international community. Through the years, this boycott spread like a virus across the globe, resulting in institutionalized discrimination against Israeli goods and businesses.

The effects of the Arab League boycott in America were as disruptive as they were outrageous, causing energy shortages, gas lines, rationing, economic stagflation and discrimination against Jewish Americans. The 1973 oil boycott by the Arab Middle East countries not only cost the American economy billions of dollars, it turned American businesses and consumers into unwilling participants in an anti-Semitic campaign to destroy Israel and demonize the Jewish people.

In 1977, U.S. Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation to protect American interests, making it a criminal offense to adhere to the Arab League boycott and imposing fines on American companies that were found to be complying with it. An office was opened in the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct surveillance and implement the law. A large number of states followed the federal legislation with their own anti-boycott laws, which were generally successful in dramatically reducing the effects of the Arab League Boycott in the United States.

Those behind the Arab League’s Boycott campaign continued to search for a way to circumvent anti-boycott laws. They found this avenue in 2001 at the UN’s “Conference on Racism” held in Durban, South Africa, hijacking the conference’s agenda to force through a series of racist declarations attacking Israel. At the conclusion of the conference, the Arab League met to formally call for a resumption of its boycott, which became the framework for the subsequent organization of the BDS Movement.

In many ways, the latest boycott is even more toxic than the original, as those behind BDS have learned the lessons of the Arab League’s failures. BDS has effectively branded itself as a human rights movement, hiding from the public its true intentions – the destruction of Israel, the demonization of the Jewish people and the erosion of the values at the heart of America’s way of life — and obscuring the role of extremists, terrorists, and radicals in driving its agenda.

The BDS Movement has effectively exploited the general language of existing anti-boycott laws, claiming that these laws only apply to activities directly connected to the Arab League boycott by name. The pro-Israel community must begin to draw the unmistakable connection between these two efforts, ensuring that Federal, State, and Local agencies are enforcing existing anti-boycott laws.

Yet, this is not enough. New laws should be enacted that specifically address BDS and close any purported loopholes that BDS supporters exploit. Recently, this was accomplished at the federal level, when Representative Peter Roskam’s anti-BDS language was included in the Trade Promotion Authority passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. Congress may also consider utilizing anti-discrimination measures to combat the BDS movement, which promotes hatred and discrimination against Jewish Americans and other pro-Israel supporters, especially on college campuses.

We can also work at an organizational level to fight BDS. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union recently nullified a resolution adopted by a local UC chapter that endorsed BDS. The union explicitly dismissed BDS supporters’ claims that it was a human rights movement, stating that “…despite semantical claims to the contrary, [BDS] can easily be construed as academic and cultural discrimination…” and the UAW deemed BDS support to be a program of “…discrimination and vilification against Israelis and UAW members who are of Jewish lineage…”

BDS threatens a return to the same kind of economic and social turmoil that the Arab League boycott created within the United States in the 1970s. We, as Americans, have to stop BDS in its tracks before it’s too late. The future of Israel – and America – is at stake.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American philanthropist, National Chairman of the Israeli-American Council, real estate entrepreneur, and President of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamMilstein and @AdamMilsteinIAC.

This post was originally on Times of Israel

The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation is proud to support AIPAC’s Campus Allies Mission, which brings non-Jewish, pro-Israel political activists to Israel for the first time. Participants learn about the importance of the relationship between the United States and Israel and gain a deeper understanding of Israel’s strategic, social, and security issues, right in the heart of the Holy Land. An alumnus of our Campus Allies — Brett Neilsen — has shared how the Campus Allies Mission has impacted his life. You can read his post below. 

In 2007, I was working on my undergraduate degree in Political Science at Utah Valley University, and preparing for my Masters program at Kings College London, when I was invited to join the Campus Allies Mission trip to Israel. Our itinerary included many Christian and Jewish locations I had learned about as a child. We began in Jerusalem, visiting holy places such as the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Gethsemane, the garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives. In the North, we spent time in the Galilee and visiting the Jordan River, Nazareth, Megiddo, and Capernaum. One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Western Wall at the Temple Mount, where I had the opportunity to offer a kvital (written prayer) to God and place it in one of the ancient crevices in the Wall. All of these places were as marvelous and sacred as I expected them to be.

However, I was also there to review the political and military situation on the ground, particularly in the Golan Heights, where we took a helicopter tour and met with military leaders. We learned about the region, and the violence that has taken place there before, during, and since 1967. Most memorable was our visit to an IDF base on the border of Lebanon. I recall looking over the military fence and seeing a Hezbollah flag waving in the distance. A few of the soldiers who were hosting us spoke with a familiar accent — they were young Jewish men and women from different parts of America who had come to Israel to fight for their religion, their culture, and the survival of their people. It was an honor to spend a few minutes with them discussing their experiences fighting for the IDF and keeping Israel’s border safe.

We also met with Arab leaders and journalists to get a better understanding of the Palestinian position and situation. We spent time learning about the history of the Arab-Israel conflict, the key players on both sides, and the intricate details of the struggles to find solutions.

On the trip, I learned a great deal about the amazing history, culture, and people of Israel. The economy and technology sectors were vibrant and successful. In the middle of it all was the ever-present reality of the dangers and threats Israel faces on all sides — but a sense of optimism and love of county was everywhere, as evidenced by the national flag displayed on nearly every corner. The most special thing I found while spending time in Israel was that I felt at home.

Subsequent to my time in Israel with the Campus Allies Mission, I studied the Arab-Israel conflict in greater detail during my MA International Relations program at Kings College London. At times, pro-Israel AND pro-American views were unpopular, but I was always happy to exchange views and speak up for my opinions and beliefs. Were it not for my experience spending time in Israel, it’s possible I would have been less inclined to enter the discussion.

My professional life has also blossomed because of my experience in Israel. I have worked for a variety of state and national candidates, and most recently spent time as deputy to Mitt Romney’s national finance committee co-chair during the 2012 campaign. My experiences on the Campus Allies Mission have helped me solidify and ignite my passion for a strong American-Israel relationship, and a secure and robust Israeli economy and defense – and have expanded my appreciation for the miracle that is Israel. I plan to continue my involvement with these important issues far into the future.

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Brett Nielsen holds a BA in Political Science from Utah Valley University and an MA in International Relations from Kings College London. He currently works as a partner at Skyrocket Media, a digital marketing firm, serving as the SVP of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development. Most notably, he is a former AIPAC student legislative liaison, winner of the “Activist and Campus of the Year” award at AIPAC, and member of the AIPAC Speakers Bureau.