All the President’s Guests
Who is President Bush bringing with him to Israel? The White House has released the names of the “U.S. Honorary Delegation to attend celebrations in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel on May 14-15, 2008 in Jerusalem, Israel.”
The list seems to lean pretty decidedly to the right, with a hefty representation of prominent Jewish Republicans, as well as quite a few figures from the business and Jewish organizational worlds.
It’s an almost exclusively Jewish list — of the 79 individuals listed, the only one I have reason to suspect isn’t Jewish is Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. (It’s just a hunch…)
Along with liberals and gentiles, there’s also a relative dearth of elected officials. The only four are Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, California Insurance Commissioner Steve L. Poizner, Texas State Senator Florence Shapiro — all Republicans — and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, a Democrat who broke with his party to endorse the White House run of fellow Arizonan John McCain.
Hollywood, meanwhile, is represented in the person of actor Ron Silver, who spoke in support of President Bush at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
Here is the White House release:
President George W. Bush today announced the designation of an U.S. Honorary Delegation to attend celebrations in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel on May 14-15, 2008 in Jerusalem, Israel.
Members of the Honorary Delegation:
Dr. Miriam Adelson, Chairperson, Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research
Mr. Sheldon G. Adelson, Chairman of the Board, Las Vegas Sands Corporation
Mr. Moshe Aflalo, CEO of Aflalo Equities
Mr. Neil Z. Auerbach, Managing Partner, Hudson Clean Energy Partners
Mr. Kenneth Bialkin, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLC
Mr. Elliott B. Broidy, Chairman and CEO of Broidy Capital Management
Mr. Matthew H. Brooks, Executive Director, Republican Jewish Coalition
Mr. Alan I. Casden, Chairman and CEO of Casden Properties LLC
Mr. Stanley M. Chesley, President of the National Jewish Fund
Mr. William C. Daroff, Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington Office United Jewish Communities
Mr. Nathan J. Diament, Director, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Rabbi David H. Ellenson, Ph.D., President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Mr. Michael David Epstein, President of Sensormatic Security Corporation
Mr. Donald Etra, Attorney, Law Offices of Donald Etra
Ms. Nancy E. Falchuk, National President, Hadassah
Ms. Selma J. Fisch, Founder, Fisch Properties
Mr. David M. Flaum, Chairman, Republican Jewish Coalition
Ms. Marilyn Fox, Chairman of the Fox Family Foundation and Former President of the St. Louis Jewish Community Center
The Honorable Sam Fox, U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium
Mr. Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, Anti-Defamation League
Mr. Howard E. Friedman, President, AIPAC
Mr. Tony B. Gelbart, Chairman and Co-Founder of Nefesh B’Nefesh
Mr. Sander R. Gerber, Chairman and CEO, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP
Mr. Marc S. Goldman, Farmland Dairies
The Honorable Phil Gordon, Mayor of the City of Phoenix, Arizona
Mr. Richard S. Gordon, President, American Jewish Congress
Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, President, Beverly Capital Management LLC
Mr. David Hager, President, Hager Pacific
Ms. Cheryl Halpern, Member, CPB Board of Directors
Mr. Uri Harkham, CEO, Jonathan Martin Fashion Group
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center and Museum of Tolerance
Mr. Malcolm I. Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Mr. Murray A. Huberfeld, Chairman, Centurion Credit Management LP
Rebbetizin Esther Jungreis, Founder and President of Hineni
Dr. Henry Kissinger, Chairman of Kissinger Associates, Inc.
Dr. Richard Land, President, Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Mr. Ronald Lauder, President, World Jewish Congress and Chairman, Jewish National Fund
Mr. Eliot Lauer, Senior Partner, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle
Ms. Linda S. Law, Founder, Law and Associates
Mr. Michael I. Lebovitz, Senior Vice President, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
The Honorable Jay P. Lefkowitz, Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea
Rabbi David H. Lincoln, Senior Rabbi, Park Avenue Synagogue, New York City
The Honorable Linda Lingle, Governor of the State of Hawaii
The Honorable Earle I. Mack, Senior Partner, the Mack Company
Rabbi Isaac Neuman, Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple, Champaign, Illinois
Mr. Michael B. Oren, Senior Fellow, Shalem Center, Jerusalem; Professor Georgetown University
Mr. Ronald Plotkin, Former COO, Monster.com Directional Marketing
Steve L. Poizner, Insurance Commissioner, State of California
Mr. Bruce M. Ramer, Attorney and Partner, Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown
Mr. J. Philip Rosen, Attorney, Partner, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
Mr. William Safire, Chairman, Dana Foundation
Mr. Lee C. Samson, President and CEO, SNF Management
Mr. Lenny Sands, Chairman, Alchemy Worldwide
Mr. Richard H. Schneider, Managing Member, Bunker Capital LLC
Mr. Fred Schwartz, Founder, The Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation
The Honorable Melvin F. Sembler, Chairman of the Board of The Sembler Company
Mr. Dan Senor, Founding Partner, Rosemont Capital
Mr. Joe Shapira, Managing Partner, Java Equities LLC
Ms. Florence Shapiro, Co-Chair of the Education Policy Taskforce for the National Council of State Government
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Director, Washington Office of American Friends of Lubavitch
Dr. Robert J. Shillman, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and CEO of Cognex Corporation
Mr. Richard J. Sideman, President, American Jewish Committee
Mr. Mark S. Siegel, President of ReMY Investors & Consultants, Inc.
Rabbi Michael S. Siegel, Norman Asher Rabbinic Chairman and Senior Rabbi
The Honorable Ned L. Siegel, U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Mr. Ron Silver, President Emeritus, Actors’ Equity Association; Board of Directors, U.S. Institute of Peace
The Honorable Martin J. Silverstein, Private Investor and Senior Counsel, Greenberg Traurig
Mr. Paul E. Singer, General Partner, Elliott Associates, LP
The Honorable Clifford M. Sobel, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil
Mr. Jaime Sohacheski, Chairman, Crown Realty and Development Corporation
Mr. Ronald G. Steinhart, Retired CEO, Commercial Banking, Bank One Corporation
Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, Founder and Director, Gateways Organization
Mr. Stephen J. Trachtenberg, President Emeritus, University Professor of Public Service, George Washington University
Ms. June R. Walker, Chairperson, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Mr. Leslie H. Wexner, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Limited Brands
Mr. Elie Wiesel, University Professor; Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities; Professor of Philosophy and Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences; President, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Mr. Fred S. Zeidman, Chairman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Mr. Mark Zucker, Managing Member, Dorchester Capital
Mr. Mort B. Zuckerman, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report; Publisher of New York Daily News; Co-Founder and Chairman of Boston Properties Inc.
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