By Naomi Grant | July 8, 2022 | Published in JNS

Jewish organizations far and wide, the country of Israel, and even American politicians have rejoiced over Unilever’s decision to sell Ben & Jerry’s to a local franchisee, thereby resuming the sale of its ice cream in the West Bank. While it is nice to see a major company standing up to BDS and indirectly contributing to the Israeli economy, this widely hailed “victory” against the BDS movement and antisemitism comes with many caveats.

American Quality Products owner Avi Zinger previously enjoyed exclusive rights to Ben & Jerry’s in Israel before his license was not renewed due to his continuing to sell in the West Bank. Following his win in Israeli federal court, Zinger will resume sales in all of Israel in perpetuity in Hebrew and Arabic.

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The Legislative Fellow is the primary contact for congressional offices and is responsible for all communications between EMET and congressional offices. (S)he must maintain professionalism in a variety of settings and effectively communicate with individuals from different backgrounds and political affiliations.

This role handles all scheduling and is expected to maintain the organization’s Google Calendar and Zoom accounts. The Legislative Fellow is responsible for obtaining and scheduling weekly meetings with congressional offices and handling all questions offices may have.

The current work environment is a combination of virtual and in-person and the Legislative Fellow must be able to occasionally attend in-person meetings on Capitol Hill on short notice. The Legislative Fellow is also expected to attend conferences and other in-person events when requested.

Responsibilities:

• Attend all congressional meetings to brief members of congress and their staff on various issues
• Stay informed on all current events related to Israel and the Middle East
• Write and publish articles on the Middle East and US policy thereof
• Produce a variety of written content on short notice such as one-page briefs, backgrounders and any other content congressional offices may request
• Lead the Q&A session during weekly webinars and assist in filtering audience questions

A competitive candidate will have the following qualities:

• Strong passion for the State of Israel and the belief that supporting a strong Israel makes for good US foreign policy
• Good public speaking, particularly the ability to answer questions and explain complicated topics cogently
• Excellent writing ability
• Ability to stay organized and multitask

If interested, send a resume to Sarah Stern at [email protected].

As President Biden is about to make his maiden presidential voyage to the region, what can we realistically expect him to walk away with? What are the expectations in Israel regarding this trip? What are the ramifications of the President’s visit on the status of the Palestinians? What is Israel's perspective on the sort of peace they have with Egypt and Jordan, as opposed to the sort of peace with members of the Abraham Accords - the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - as well as with Morocco and Sudan? Does Israel believe it is possible to have normal relations with Saudi Arabia?

Now that negotiations with Iran have apparently been exhausted through the last 16 months, including eight rounds of negotiations in Vienna and one in Doha, will the president be able to make greater security commitments to the state of Israel and to the Gulf states? Do they feel a war with Iran is inevitable? Will this be President Biden’s moment of truth?

Dr. Jonathan Schanzer recently returned from an extensive trip to Israel, where he kept his eyes and ears close to the ground. Come hear what one of America’s leading Middle East experts has to tell us regarding these, as well as other burning issues, as the president embarks on his first trip to the region.

About the speaker: Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at FDD, where he oversees the work of the organization’s experts and scholars. He is also on the leadership team of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power, a project on the use of financial and economic power as a tool of statecraft.

Jonathan previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers. He has held previous think tank research positions at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Middle East Forum.

Jonathan has written hundreds of articles on the Middle East, along with more than a dozen monographs and chapters for edited volumes. His new book, Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War (FDD Press 2021), challenges and corrects the some of the wildly inaccurate news reported during the conflict. It is the first book published on the war. His three other books have made unique contributions to the field. State of Failure: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Unmaking of the Palestinian State (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) argues the main roadblock to Palestinian statehood is the Palestinian Authority’s political dysfunction and mismanagement. Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine (Palgrave Macmillan 2008) is still the only book on the market that analyzes the ongoing Palestinian civil war. Al-Qaeda’s Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror (Washington Institute for Near East Policy 2004) was the first to explore the al-Qaeda franchises of the Middle East. 

Jonathan testifies often before Congress and publishes widely in the American and international media. He has appeared on American television channels such as Fox News and CNN, and Arabic language television channels such as Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera.