Join Ambassador Ido Aharoni and Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch for a two-part discussion about Israel’s upcoming elections and their impact on Israeli society, the American-Jewish community and Jews worldwide. The first session, just ahead of the March 23 election — Israel’s fourth in two years — will focus on the political map and the challenges and divisive issues facing Israelis as they head to the polls. The second will dissect the results of the election and explore their ramifications — and opportunities — for Israeli society and the U.S.-Israel relationship.

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AMBASSADOR IDO AHARONI serves as global distinguished professor for international relations at New York University’s faculty of arts and science. He is a co-founder of Emerson Rigby Ltd., a member of the International Advisory Council of APCO Worldwide, a managing director at private investment firm Value Base, a global ambassador for Maccabi World Union, and the chairman of the Charney Forum for New Diplomacy. A 25-year veteran of Israel’s foreign service, Aharoni was Israel’s longest-serving consul-general in New York and the tri-state area. He held that position with the rank of ambassador for six years, overseeing the operations Israel’s largest global diplomatic mission.

RABBI AMMIEL HIRSCH is the senior rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. The Jerusalem Post named him among “The 50 Most Influential Jews of the Year” in 2018 and City & State New York magazine has praised him as “the borough’s most influential voice” for Manhattan’s more than 300,000 Jews. He was executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), the Israel arm of the North American Reform movement, for 12 years. From 1977 to 1980, Rabbi Hirsch served as a tank commander in the Israel Defense Forces.

Presented by the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue Israel Committee with the support of the Schwartz Israel Fund