Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Streisand To Sing for the IDF

Barbra Streisand is set to headline a star-studded gala for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces in Los Angeles on December 8. Organizers of the fundraiser are considering this a coup, given that the singer rarely agrees to sing at such events and has yet to accept invitations to hold a concert in Israel.

The evening, which will take place at L.A.’s Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, is being put together by Egyptian-born Israeli-American entertainment mogul Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl. Saban, one of the IDF’s biggest donors and the gala’s chairman for the past five years, personally asked Streisand to sing.

Actor Jason Alexander, fresh from his recent trip to Israel, will host the gala. Other honored guests will include former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, FIDF National Director Major-General (Res.) Jerry Gershon, FIDF chair Nily Falic and FIDF National President Julian Josephson. More than 1,000 guests are expected to attend.

Last year, the Los Angeles FIDF gala raised $8.8 million. The organization, which has 14 branches in the U.S. and in Panama, raises $60 million per year to support educational, recreational, cultural and social programming and facilities for IDF soldiers and their families, as well as families of fallen soldiers.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.