Israeli-American Council

Israeli-American Council (IAC)

Formation	2007
Legal status	501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Region served	Arizona, Boston, Chicago, Florida, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, D.C.
Chairman	Adam Milstein
CEO	Shoham Nicolet
Website	www.israeliamerican.org

The Israeli-American Council (IAC; Hebrew: ארגון הקהילה הישראלית-אמריקאית‎‎) is an American nonprofit organization that represents and serves more than 250,000 Israeli-Americans across the country. Its mission is to preserve and strengthen the Israeli and Jewish identities of future generations, strengthen the American Jewish community, and strengthen the relationship between citizens of the United States and the State of Israel."^[1] As of 2017, the IAC is the fastest-growing Jewish organization in the world.^[2]

History

Israeli Leadership Council (2007-2012)

In 2007, the Israeli Leadership Council (ILC) was founded in Los Angeles by a group of Israeli-American business leaders and philanthropists.^[3] The first ILC event was held in July 2007, where approximately 80 Israeli-American business leaders gathered to at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to hear from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Israel’s Consul General, Ehud Danoch.^[4]

The event was organized by Danny Alpert, Adam Milstein, Eli Tene, Steve Erdman, Naty Saidoff, Eli Marmour and Shoham Nicolet following a meeting between Alpert and Danoch. Danoch met with Alpert because, when the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles organized a pro-Israel rally in summer 2006, few Israeli-Americans attended the event despite more than 200,000 Israeli-Americans residing in the greater Los Angeles area.^[5]

The ILC’s first board was co-chaired by Alpert and Tene, and included Milstein, Erdman, Marmour, Saidoff, Shawn Evenhaim, Yossi Rabinovitz and Nissan Pardo. Shoham Nicolet was asked to volunteer to lead the venture as the Founding Executive Director. They set the organization’s “three pillars” of engagement: to strengthen future generations of Israeli-Americans, the American Jewish community and the State of Israel.^[6]

The board set six initial goals:

1. establish a Jewish-Israeli identity within the Israeli-American community
2. build a Los Angeles chapter as a model for national chapters
3. establish a stronger relationship between the State of Israel and Israeli-Americans
4. get Israeli-Americans to engage with the Jewish-American community
5. foster a culture of philanthropy within the Israeli-American community
6. involve Israeli-Americans with pro-Israel movements

The Los Angeles office opened in January of 2007. ^[7]By 2008, the ILC grew to approximately 25,000 participants and began receiving support from Beny Alagem, Leo David and Haim Saban. It held its first event, “Live for Sdeort,” in partnership with the Israeli Consulate to bring educational technologies to schools in Sderot, which was under constant missile attack. The gala had 1,800 attendees and featured videos from 2008 presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain.^[8]The ILC also launched project Tzav 8 to involve Israeli-Americans to public support of Israel.

The ILC held its First Annual Gala Dinner in 2009. That year, it also began supporting other Jewish and Israeli organizations and began developing its own programs: Bina, a group of Israeli and Jewish American young professionals, and Sifriyat Pijama B’America (SP-BA), a Hebrew literacy program for children aged 2-8.^[9]

Sagi Balasha became the ILC’s CEO in September 2011. Under his leadership, the organization launched ILC Care, which to foster volunteerism in the Israeli-American community, and began holding the Celebrate Israel Festival, an American celebration of Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel’s independence day). Approximately 50,000 people were involved with the ILC by 2013, mostly in the Los Angeles area.^[10]

Israeli-American Council (2013-present)

In 2013, the ILC rebranded as the Israeli-American Council^[11] and, with major support from Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, the organization launched a National Expansion Plan, focused on creating regional councils across the United States.^[12] By summer 2014, the IAC had a staff of 60 people, an annual budget of $17.5 million, six regional offices, and 150,000 participants, making the IAC the fastest-growing Jewish organization.^[13][14]

In September 2013, the IAC began hosting a national conference in Washington, D.C.^[15]

By 2014, IAC Merkaz and IAC Shishi Israel were established,^[16][17] as were regional chapters in Boston, Florida, Las Vegas, and New York.^[18][19] In October 2014, Adam Milstein became the Chairman of the IAC, and Shoham Nicolet returned as the organization's CEO.^[20]

The IAC established regional chapters in New Jersey, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. in 2015, and ones in Seattle, Arizona, and Philadelphia in 2016.^[21][22] Those years also saw the launch of IAC Manhigut, IAC Act, and IAC Eitanim.^[23][24][25]

As of March 2017, the organization has 11 regional offices and activities in 27 states, serving more than 250,000 people.^[26]

Organizational Structure

Leadership

National Officers^[27]

• Shoham Nicolet, Chief Executive Officer
• Shanee Feig-Kochlani, Chief Creative Officer
• Shely Medved, Chief Financial Officer

Regional Directors^[28]

• Yoni (Jonathan) Ari, Philadelphia
• Shahar Edry, Arizona
• Yehudit Feinstein, New York
• Erez Goldman, Los Angeles
• Ronit Gudes Totah, Washington D.C
• Lital Hasak, Chicago
• Nir Lerman, Florida
• Na'ama Ore, Boston
• Noa Peri-Jensch, Las Vegas
• Aya Shechter, New Jersey

2017 National Board of Directors^[29]

• Adam Milstein, Chairman
• Danny Alpert, Chairman Emeritus
• Shawn Evenhaim, Chairman Emeritus
• Dr. Avi Almozlino
• Gilly Arie
• Rani Ben-David
• Rachel Chafetz
• Ben Cohen
• Tamir Cohen
• Rachel N. Davidson
• Etty Dolgin
• Ronen Engler
• Iris Hami
• Yossi Rabinovitz
• Naty Saidoff
• Ofer Shapiro
• Miri Shepher
• Shimon Shkury

Regions

The IAC Headquarters identifies local lay leaders in new regions to serve on Regional Councils, which function as each region’s local board.^[30] In each region, the IAC establishes an office headed by a professional Regional Director that coordinates between the Regional Council and the IAC Headquarters. Regional offices offer a combination of national programs as well as customized local programming. Each IAC regional office also supports local initiatives and organizations that share IAC's mission and community objectives.^[31]

• Arizona (est. 2016)^[32]
• Boston (est. 2014)^[33]
• Chicago (est. 2015)^[34]
• Florida (est. 2014)^[35]
• Las Vegas (est. 2014)^[36]
• Los Angeles (est. January 2007)^[37]
• New Jersey (est. 2015, population served approx. 6,000)^[38]
• New York (est. May 2014, population served about 15,000-16,000)^[39]
• Philadelphia (est. June 2016, population served about 20,000)^[40]
• Seattle (est. March 2016)^[41]
• Washington, D.C. (est. September 2015, population served about 4,000)^[42]

Councils being added:

• Houston (2017)^[43]
• Denver (2018)^[44]

Programs

The IAC offers programming to develop and maintain a strong connection to Israeli-Americans’ Israeli heritage, Jewish identity, and ties to the State of Israel. Additionally, it offers cultural, educational, leadership, advocacy, and family programming in both Hebrew and English for all age groups.^[45]

Current programs:

• Celebrate Israel Festival: A festival to celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day). (est. 2011, approx. 50,000 participants)^{[46] [47]}
• IAC Act (formerly IAC Advocacy): Tools and training to help support Israeli-Americans become effective advocates for Israel in their communities, workplaces, on social media and on campuses. (est. 2016, approx. 1,200 participants)^[48]
• IAC Young Professionals Programs: A group of programs, including IAC Bina and IAC Talks, for Israeli-Americans and American Jews in their 20s and 30s.(est. 2010, approx. 2000 participants)^{[49] [50]}
• IAC Mishelanu: A college campus leadership program that allows Israeli-American students on campus to meet, explore their Israeli-Jewish identity and their connection to the State of Israel.(est. 2011, approx. 1,000 participants)^[51]
• IAC Keshet: A Hebrew after school immersion and dual language program for Hebrew speaking and non-Hebrew speaking children. KesheTOT is the sister program to IAC Keshet that is tailored for toddlers. (est. 2016)^[52]
• IAC Beyachad: A program that helps, guide, and support volunteer leaders to develop a series of grassroots events within the Israeli-American community that strengthen cultural identity. (approx. 13,000 participants)^[53]
• IAC Eitanim: A project-based program for high school students to develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills that began in 2016. Israeli-American professionals serve as mentors. The program includes a summer “Hackathon” in Los Angeles. (est. 2016, approx. 600 participants)^[54]
• IAC Manhigut (formerly IAC Gvanim): A leadership program exploring the Israeli-American and Jewish identities that helps participants address the challenges of the next generation through an in-depth learning process. (est. 2015)^[55]
• IAC Merkaz: An initiative to open Israeli-American community centers. Currently in Los Angeles, Florida, Boston and New Jersey. (est. 2014)^[56]
• IAC Shishi Israeli: An Israeli Shabbat dinner for Israeli and Jewish Americans that includes Piyutim, Shira Betzibur (sing-along) and educational activities for kids. Approximately 5,000 participants—40 percent of whom are Jewish Americans and 60 percent of whom are Israeli-Americans. (est. 2014, approx. 5,000 participants—40 percent of whom are Jewish Americans and 60 percent of whom are Israeli-Americans.)^[57]

Israeli-American National Conference

The first annual conference of IAC leadership and Israeli-American community leaders from the United States was held in November 2014 in Washington, D.C. and drew over 750 participants and speakers.^{[58] [59] [60]}The second annual conference, in 2015, attracted 1,300 attendees.^[61]

At the third conference in 2016, more than 220 speakers addressed 2,100 attendees in four plenaries and 39 panels.^[62]

Speakers included:^{[63] [64] [65]}

• Sen. Charles Schumer
• Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
• U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman
• President and Founder of the Reut Institute Gidi Grinstein
• Head of the Jewish Agency for Israel Natan Sharansky
• Israel’s Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara
• Israeli Ministers Yoav Galant and Ofir Akunis
• Israel’s former U.S. Ambassador and the current Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren
• Israel’s former U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor
• Israel’s former U.N. Ambassador
• Israel’s Director General of the Foreign Ministry Dore Gold

Former Fox anchor Greta Van Susteren received the IAC’s Fair and Honest Reporting Award at the 2016 conference.^[66]

IAC for Action

Formerly the Israeli-American Nexus, the Israeli-American Coalition for Action (IAC for Action) is a partner organization of the IAC.^[67] The IAC for Action is a non-profit, bipartisan organization dedicated to strengthening the US-Israel relationship and making the voices of Israeli-Americans heard by policymakers on a range of issues at the federal, state, and local level. ^[68]

Key initiatives include supporting economic collaboration between the United States and Israel and advocating for legislation that bars governments from contracting with organizations that discriminate against Israelis by participating in the BDS Movement. ^[69][70]

Partnerships

The IAC provides financial or organizational support for a number of organizations that further the IAC’s goals.

• ICON
• IEFF
• Science Abroad
• SSI
• Israel & co
• Friends of Israel Scouts,  Inc.

References

External links

• Official website