Dear Friends of EMET,
 
As we enter into this most solemn day of reflection and remembrance, we look back upon the past year. Exactly one year ago today, September 15, 2020, I was basking in the warmth of the new friendships brokered between Israel and many of her Gulf Sunni neighbors. As the Abraham Accords were being signed on the White House lawn, sitting on my left was a woman from Bahrain. When I told her that I had children and grandchildren in Israel, she remarked, “Maybe someday, our children and grandchildren will play together.”
 
I will never forget that.
 
And sitting to my right was a remarkably beautiful woman, both inside and out, Sarah Idan, the former Miss Iraq. She had become friends with Miss Israel at a Miss Universe Contest, and posted a selfie with her new Jewish friend. Because of that “sin,” she and her family were threatened by the Iraqi government and no longer allowed back into the country. 

(Sarah Idan will be speaking for an EMET webinar about her experiences and her wonderful organization, Humanity Forward, September 30^th at 2 p.m. EDT.)
 
Speaking of our EMET webinars, they have been incredibly successful. We bring the world’s best policy analysts and thinkers, including Colonel Richard Kemp, Representative Brian Mast, Sarit Zehavi of the ALMA Center, Efraim Inbar, President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, Ambassador Yoram Ettinger, Lt. Colonel Reuven Berko,(retired) of the IDF, David Goldman of the Asia Times, Jonathon Tobin, Editor of the Jewish News Syndicate, His Excellency, Dr. Al Rashid Al Nuami of the United Arab Emirates,  David Albright, Founder and President of the Institute for Science and International Security, David Wurmser, Harold Rhode, Alex Traiman, Caroline Glick, Steve Emerson and many, many others. By tuning in to these webinars you have become a part of a community of some of the best strategic thinkers and analysts who care passionately about the survival of Israel, the United States and the Western world as we know it.
 
That is not even discussing the amazing work we have done educating Congress on Capitol Hill about a myriad of issues, including what precipitated the May war between Hamas and Israel and what it felt like to have 60 seconds to flee into a sealed room with young children; the problem with returning to the fatally flawed JCPOA, the Iranian nuclear deal of 2015; the problem with our retreat from Afghanistan and what it signals to the region and the world; what is happening in the UNRWA schools and the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigade's Hamas-led summer camps for children in Gaza; American taxpayer dollars sent to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which has been dominated by Hezbollah and many other issues.
 
Our discussions have sometimes led to some legislative initiatives. For example, I am very proud to tell you that our own Director of EMET’s Project for Emerging Democracies of the Middle East Hussein Aboubakr Mansour had a hand in drafting the Israel Normalization Act of 2021, which aims to prevent any other Arab or Muslim dissident from suffering the same fate as Hussein endured. As many of you know, he was arrested and tortured in his native Cairo, simply for reaching out to Israelis in friendship.
 
This has been an incredible year full of amazing triumphs and significant challenges. Our voice is needed here in Washington. We ask you to please partner with us and consider making a significant gift to EMET in order to sustain our very important work. We thank you in advance.
 
Wishing all of you who celebrate a very meaningful and easy fast.
 
Warmest Wishes for a G'mar Chatimah Tova,
Sarah