Jacob Katz, 1904-1998CIE+
Awarded the Israel Prize in 1980, modern Israeli historian Katz was a leading figure in Jewish social studies as a Hebrew University professor. He used rabbinical sources for books such as 1970’s “Freemasons and Jews”…
Isaiah “Si” Kenen, 1905-1988CIE+
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…
Etgar Keret, 1967-CIE+
Born in Ramat Gan to Holocaust survivors from Poland, Keret is internationally renowned for quirky, darkly humorous short stories, novels and screenplays exploring such themes as love, death, morality and the meaning of life. His…
Noa Kirel, 2001-CIE+
Kirel is a pop star and actress of Mizrahi and Ashkenazi ancestry who is Israel’s 2023 Eurovision contestant. She released her first songs at 14. She won the MTV Europe Music Award for best Israeli…
Jeane Kirkpatrick, 1926-2006CIE+
Kirkpatrick was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Ronald Reagan. She built a close relationship with Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Blum and was as staunch in her support of Israel as she was…
Ephraim Kishon, 1924-2005CIE+
A Holocaust survivor from Hungary, Kishon was a columnist, playwright and film director. His satirical work portrayed social and political issues, often focusing on the day-to-day struggles of regular people or on the state bureaucracy….
Henry Kissinger, 1923-2023CIE+
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…
Howard Kohr, 1955-CIE+
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…
Israel Kolatt, 1927-2007CIE+
Kolatt was a professor of the New Yishuv at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Goldstein professor emeritus of the history of Zionism. His books and articles address such topics as the organization…
Teddy Kollek, 1911-2007CIE+
Kollek was Jerusalem’s mayor from 1965 to 1993 and, after the city’s 1967 reunification, helped develop it into a modern metropolis with a vision for coexistence and religious protection. Born in Hungary, he was named…
Sigalit Landau, 1969-CIE+
Landau is a Jerusalem-born artist who studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, then worked in the United States and United Kingdom. Her pieces are multimedia, including drawing, sculpture, video and performance. She…
Tom Lantos, 1928-2008CIE+
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…
Yair Lapid, 1963-CIE+
Born in Tel Aviv, Lapid followed the path of his father, Tommy, in gaining fame as a journalist, then moving into politics with a vision for a secular government. Lapid worked for Channel 1 and…
Yisrael Meir Lau, 1937-CIE+
The youngest survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp, Lau arrived in the Land of Israel with a brother in 1945. He was the chief rabbi of Netanya from 1978 to 1988 and of Tel Aviv…
Naomi Lauter, 1930-2017CIE+
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…
Emma Lazarus, 1849-1887CIE+
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…
Moshe Levinger, 1935-2015CIE+
Jerusalem native Levinger was a leader in the settler movement. He brought 30 families to a Hebron hotel in June 1968 to demand and win the right to establish the first permanent Jewish presence in…
Sarah Levy-Tanai, 1910-2005CIE+
One of Israel’s foremost choreographers and a 1973 Israel Prize winner, Levy-Tanai also produced plays and drew inspiration from her Mizrahi roots in her art. A Jerusalem native who was largely raised in orphanages, she…
Bernard Lewis, 1916-2018CIE+
Orientalist scholar Lewis, a London native who finished his academic career at Princeton, influenced American foreign policy and the West’s attitudes toward the Middle East. He backed U.S. intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. His “Lewis…
Samuel Lewis, 1930-2014CIE+
Lewis served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1977 to 1985, second in tenure to Walworth Barbour. He played an important part in brokering Israeli-Egyptian peace and provided the on-site U.S. response to the…
Avigdor Liberman, 1958-CIE+
A two-time foreign minister, Liberman was the finance minister in the coalition formed in June 2021. Born in Moldova, Liberman arrived in Israel in 1978. He worked closely with Benjamin Netanyahu before splitting with him…
Ehud Manor, 1941-2005CIE+
Manor was a singer, songwriter, and TV and radio host. He wrote more than 1,200 songs, including the 1978 Eurovision winner, “A-Ba-Ni-Bi.” Many songs reacted to events such as the June 1967 war and the…
Bernie Marcus, 1929-2024CIE+
Home Depot co-founder Marcus has devoted much of his philanthropy to Israel and to organizations supporting Israel. Examples within Israel include the Israel Democracy Institute and Magen David Adom’s underground blood storage facility in Ramle….
Louis Marshall, 1856-1929CIE+
Marshall co-founded the American Jewish Committee and served as its president from 1912 to 1926. He supported efforts that aided the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and united Zionists and anti-Zionists in helping…
