A Ukrainian-born scholar, Friedlander was a commissioner for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He became a U.S. Zionist leader and wrote books including “Past and Present: A Collection of Jewish Essays.” He was a…
Goldberg resigned as a U.S. Supreme Court justice in 1965 to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He drafted the text of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, the basis of all “land…
Gottheil attended the Second Zionist Congress, where Theodor Herzl invited her to translate his speech into French, Italian and English. In the United States she organized women’s study groups that were the precursors of Hadassah….
A two-time president of Hadassah, Halprin lived in Jerusalem in the late 1930s to serve as the Hadassah Medical Organization’s liaison during the construction of Hadassah Hospital at Mount Scopus. She spoke against violence during…
Harris served as the chief executive of the American Jewish Committee from 1990 until the end of September 2022. He made advocacy for a Jewish, democratic, internationally accepted Israel a fundamental part of AJC’s efforts….
Hertzberg, who arrived in the United States from Poland in 1926, was a Conservative rabbi and scholar. He was the president of the American Jewish Congress in the 1970s and vice president of the World…
Born in Hungary, Herzl is viewed as the father of modern political Zionism. A journalist, novelist and playwright, he embraced Zionism after reporting on Alfred Dreyfus’ trial in France. His pamphlet “Der Judenstaat” (“The Jewish…
Herzog has served as the 11th president of Israel since July 2021. His father, Chaim Herzog, also served as president, and grandfather Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog was the chief rabbi of Ireland. A Tel Aviv native,…
Born into an Orthodox family in Germany in 1812, Hess became interested in socialism, befriended Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and contributed to the Communist Manifesto. He recognized that German nationalism would inspire increased antisemitism….
Hoenlein is transitioning out of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which coordinates support for Israel, after serving as the executive vice chairman since 1986. He handed the CEO position to William…
Many people, Jewish and non-Jewish, have played a part in the State of Israel’s creation, survival and development despite never themselves becoming Israeli. For good or bad, Israel would not be what it is today…
A journalist born in Odesa, Jabotinsky organized self-defense units and fought for Jewish rights in Russia. He attended most Zionist Congresses from 1903 to 1933. He co-founded the Zion Mule Corps in World War I….
Jacobson and Harry Truman became close friends during World War I and partnered after the war in a failed haberdashery. In March 1948, Jacobson visited Truman, now the president, at the White House and persuaded…
The deputy national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Jacobson is the civil rights organization’s No. 2 official and its longest-serving professional. Since 1971, in roles that include international affairs, education, and marketing and communications, he…
Morgenthau was the U.S. secretary of the Treasury under Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman from 1934 to 1945. He drove the creation of the War Refugee Board in 1944 to help Jews escape the Nazis…
Born in Prussia, Kalischer was an early proponent of the resettlement of the Land of Israel to strengthen the Jewish people. He contributed to Hebrew journals and wrote on the need for Diaspora Jews to…
Kenen in 1951 founded the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, the predecessor of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Kenen’s organization provided a united pro-Israel voice in Washington and helped win financial aid…
Kissinger was the national security adviser and secretary of state to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He heavily influenced U.S. policy in the Middle East and made “shuttle diplomacy” famous after the October 1973…
Kohr has served as the top executive of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee since 1996. Under Kohr, AIPAC has built support beyond the Jewish community. Its lobbying for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship has drawn…
Kook was born in Latvia and was one of the fathers of Religious Zionism. As a rabbi in London, he rallied popular support for the Balfour Declaration. After he immigrated to Palestine in 1919, Kook…
A native of Hungary, Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, representing California as a Democrat in the House from 1981 to 2008. Steven Spielberg’s documentary “The Last Days” featured Lantos’ life…
Recruited by Si Kenen, Lauter worked with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in San Francisco for more than 50 years, from chief volunteer recruiter to regional director to a consultant training staff across the…
Jewish poet Lazarus’ words, taken from “The New Colossus,” are on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” She wrote some of…
A Belarus native, Levin was a Jewish Enlightenment poet who wrote in Hebrew on socialist themes. Concerned with Jewish lives in Russia, Levin wrote one of his most famous poems, “Daniyel be-gov ha-arayot” (“Daniel in…
