Attend an Event
Tue, Nov 18, 2014
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

New Initiatives for Democracy: How We Will Expand the Progressive Camp in Israel

This event is co-sponsored by Harvard College Progressive Jewish Alliance

A Panel Discussion with:

Daniel Sokatch, New Israel Fund CEO

Nadia Ben Youssef, U.S. Representative of Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights

Einat Hurvitz, Attorney at The Israel Religious Action Center

Moderated by Libby Lenkinski, NIF US Director, Strategic Initiatives

The conflict this past summer exposed and exacerbated some underlying and ominous trends within Israeli society.  Jewish ultranationalists searched for Arab Israeli citizens to beat up, freedom of assembly for pro-peace demonstrators was limited, and while the settlements received large and secret cash infusions from the government, southern Israel received very little in support.  Israel’s founding principles, as articulated in the Israeli Declaration of Independence, are under siege.  And yet, committed and smart Israelis are pushing back – and gaining traction. Join us as we explore how NIF and its partners, through New Initiatives for Democracy (NIFD), are beginning to turn the tide.

Please register below.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Harvard Hillel
Beren Hall (second floor)
52 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Daniel J. Sokatch is the Chief Executive Officer of NIF. Before joining NIF, Daniel served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Prior to his tenure at Federation, he served as the founding Executive Director of the Los Angeles based Progressive Jewish Alliance. In recognition of his leadership, Daniel has been named to the Forward newspaper’s “Forward 50,” an annual list of the fifty leading Jewish decision-makers and opinion-shapers, in 2002, 2005 and 2008 and 2010. Daniel has an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a BA from Brandeis University. He is married with two daughters and resides in San Francisco.


Nadia Ben-Youssef has worked with Adalah since 2010, where she serves as an international law and advocacy consultant with a focus on promoting the rights of the Arab Bedouin community in the Naqab. She has documented human rights violations in India, served as a speech-writer and legal assistant to Mrs. Cherie Blair, and worked as a civil litigator for indigent clients in the greater Boston community. She is a member of the New York State Bar, and speaks French and Spanish fluently. Nadia obtained an AB in Sociology from Princeton University and graduated cum laude from Boston College Law School with a certificate in Human Rights and International Justice. In 2013, Nadia began serving as Adalah's Representative in the United States.


Einat Hurvitz is the director of the legal and public policy departments at the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), which is the legal and public arm of the Israel Jewish Reform Movement. In this capacity she formulates the organization's policy and strategic goals. She has headed IRAC's many legal battles towards equality for all people, religious pluralism and social justice. Among these, the winning case against gender segregation in public buses in Israel, equal recognition and resources to the Reform and Conservative streams, and the groundbreaking case allowing "Women of the Wall" to pray at the Western Wall. Einat initiated and lead the writing of various public reports documenting significant civil rights issues, among them: "Love the Stranger As Yourself? Racism in the Name of Halacha - Racial Incitement by Rabbis in Israel" (2011).  She is a 2002-2003 New Israel Fund law fellow, and in 2003 completed an L.L.M. specializing in human rights at American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington D.C.


Libby Lenkinski is New Israel Fund US’s Director of Strategic Initiatives. Prior to joining NIF, Libby worked as Director of International Relations at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) in Tel Aviv, and before that as a strategy consultant to human rights and social change organizations in Israel. Libby was also the outreach producer for Sundance Award-winning documentary The Law in These Parts and worked with Just Vision on Israeli engagement for Puma Impact Award-winner Budrus. Libby consults for +972 Magazine, an online magazine that brings progressive voices from Israel and Palestine, and she serves on the Board of Comet-ME, an NGO that provides renewable energy systems to off-the-grid Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Libby is an impressive strategist and an engaging speaker with deep knowledge of the political and communal landscapes in which NIF operates.

Event Location

Harvard Hillel - Beren Hall (second floor)
52 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA 02138


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