Israel

Efraim Halevy

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Joining us from Israel, we will have Efraim Halevy. A lawyer and an Israeli intelligence expert, Halevy was the ninth director of Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel, responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counter-terrorism He also served as the 4th head of the Israeli National Security Council. Above all, Halevy may be remembered for his part in bringing about the Israel–Jordan peace treaty.

Halevy served as the envoy and confidant of five Prime Ministers: Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon. He took an active part in a special mission by Rabin in forging the Israel–Jordan Treaty of Peace. After the failure of the Mossad operation to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in 1997, he took an active part in Benjamin Netanyahu's mission to return the Mossad men captured in Jordan, and to settle the crisis with the King of Jordan.

In December 2014 Halevy was interviewed by The Times of Israel. He claimed that Israel would never have peace unless Palestinians were treated with dignity as equals. He was critical of Benjamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett and their policies, especially regarding Jerusalem. He underscored the importance of the upcoming 17 March 2015 elections, which from his perspective "constitute an unprecedented opportunity to determine Israel's policy vis-à-vis the peace process.

On June 8 2021, Efraim Halevy participated in the Tracing his father’s escape during the Holocaust, Rick Salomon found himself drawn into the histories of lesser-known heroes of WWII, a Japanese diplomat who signed thousands of visas that rescued Jews from certain death.

Rick Salomon, spent six years working with the Consulate General of Japan to obtain access to the original visa documents where copies are on display at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.

On June 9 2021, Rick Salomon participated in the Hamas & Gaza: Where Does Israel Go From Here? Event

Amir Peretz

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Amir Peretz

Israeli Politician

Amir Peretz was the former defense minister of Israel and former leader of the Labor Party. He left both posts in 2007 after failing to win reelection as Chairman of the Labor Party. Peretz also served as Defense Minister when the second Lebanon War broke out between Israel and Lebanon.

In 1988, Peretz was elected a member of the Knesset, where he continues to be a member. In 1994, he was the head of the powerful Histadrut union federation. During this time, Peretz was cooperative with the government in a series of structural and financial reforms that moved Israel towards a more market-oriented economy. In 1999, Peretz resigned from the Labor Party and formed his own party, One Nation. The party was successful, winning two seats in the Knesset in the 1999 elections and three in 2003. As Israel’s social programs became dismantled by market-oriented reforms, Peretz became popular with Israel’s working class, leading to the merger of One Nation and Labor.

Peretz was hosted by The Common Good in 2011: Middle East Briefing with Amir Peretz.

Twitter: @amirperetz


Chemi Peres

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Chemi Peres

Managing General Partner and Co-Founder of Pitango

Chemi Peres is a Managing General Partner and Co-Founder of Pitango. In 1992, he founded the Mofet Israel Technology Fund, an Israeli venture capital fund publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Prior to Mofet, Chemi held managerial positions at Decision Systems Israel (DSI). Chemi also served as a pilot in the Israeli Air Force for 10 years.

He currently serves on the boards of numerous Pitango portfolio companies. Chemi also serves as a board member in several non-for-profit organizations. He is chairman of the Peres center for Peace, board member at Social Finance Israel and serves on the board of Governors of The Jewish Diaspora Museum.

Peres spoke at The Common Good in 2017: "No Room for Small Dreams: Courage, Imagination and the Making of Modern Israel".

Twitter: @chemiperes


Ambassador Ron Prosor

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Ambassador Ron Prosor

Israeli diplomat

Ambassador Ron Prosor became Israel’s 16th Permanent Representative to the United Nations in June 2011. With over two decades of experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prosor has carved out an international reputation as one of Israel’s most distinguished diplomats.

Previously, he served for nearly four years as Israel’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he earned plaudits for his articulate and forthright defense of Israel’s position, publishing numerous articles throughout the British press and addressing the widest possible range of audiences throughout the country. Between 2004 and 2007 Prosor served as the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, overseeing the work of the Foreign Ministry during the disengagement from Gaza in 2005.

His previous overseas service has included roles in Washington, London and Bonn. Mr. Prosor was instrumental in establishing diplomatic relations behind the Iron Curtain following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He was also a member of Israel’s delegation to the Wye River Summit talks in 1998. Prosor served in Washington between 1998 and 2002 as the Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the Israeli Embassy, throughout the transition from the Clinton to Bush administrations after the presidential elections of 2000.


Robert Shrum

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robert Shrum

Political advisor

Robert Shrum has been a senior adviser to the Gore 2000 presidential campaign, the campaign of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and the British Labour Party. In addition to being the chief strategist for the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign, Shrum has advised thirty winning U.S. Senate campaigns; eight winning campaigns for governor; mayors of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other major cities; and the Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Shrum’s writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The New Republic, Slate, and other publications.

The author of No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner (Simon and Schuster), he is currently a Senior Fellow at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. He is the Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the University of Southern California, where he is a Professor of the Practice of Political Science in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

Shrum spoke at The Common Good’s Elections 2012 Forecast – Mehlman, Shrum, Wolffe – November 17, 2011.

Twitter: @BobShrum