For more than 75 years, the Fulbright program has enabled hundreds of thousands of American students, scholars and professionals to study or conduct research in academic institutions abroad, and brought the equivalent number of top-notch academics from around the world to the United States. Now, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides is aiming to put the Jewish state at the pinnacle of this flagship cultural and educational exchange initiative. “Israel already has one of the largest Fulbright programs, but we can easily double the numbers,” Nides told Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks Eglash in an exclusive interview this week. “My goal is for Israel to have the largest Fulbright program in the world.”

Back to the community: Founded by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright, a Democrat from Arkansas, in 1946, the Fulbright program supports some 8,000 students, scholars and professionals from more than 160 countries annually, providing them with grants to work, study or conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields. “I’ve been a big believer in the Fulbright program since I was a deputy at the State Department, because I realized how beneficial it is,” Nides said. “It’s a program where ultimately these individuals come back to contribute to their communities, and there’s been Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, top scientists and doctors who have come out of this program.”

Full steam ahead: Nides, who began his posting in Jerusalem in November 2021, continued: “When I got here, I just said to myself, ‘Why don’t we have the biggest program in the world in Israel?’ The bilateral relations are already so strong; this will make them stronger.” Working together with the Fulbright teams in Israel and in the U.S., Nides said they have already secured the necessary funds (U.S. covers 60% of funding, Israel 40%) that will enable the current number of participants to double from 60 (30 Israelis to the U.S. and 30 Americans to Israel) to 120.

Changing of the guard: In addition, the U.S. envoy revealed to JI that Sender Cohen, chief investment officer of Schusterman Interests LLC, will take over from Shira Ruderman, the executive director of the Ruderman Family Foundation, as Fulbright Israel’s new chairperson. Cohen told JI that he was “very excited to dig in. I’ll do anything to help strengthen the relationship between the United States and Israel,” he said. “I love the new expansion plans; there are a lot of really creative ideas, both bilaterally between the U.S. and Israel, as well as in the region.” Cohen also said he believes Nides’ goal to make Israel’s program the largest was a realistic one.

Talent on tap: Anat Lapidot-Firilla, executive director of Fulbright Israel, said that plans were already underway to increase the number of participants and that there was no shortage of qualified applicants in Israel. “We have the capacity in terms of talented people and with the new funds, we can send new people, which will contribute more and make more to making an impact on Israeli society and also by exchanging knowledge with the U.S.”

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Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) is among the parade of lawmakers visiting Israel during the Presidents’ Day recess, Padilla spokesperson Tess Whittlesey confirmed to Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod yesterday.

Look who’s back: The visit is the senator’s first as senator, but not his first time in Israel, according to Whittlesey. California Jewish leaders have described Padilla to JI as a close friend and ally of the Jewish community. Padilla is traveling alone, separately from the several other concurrent congressional visits to Israel and the Middle East.

On the agenda: Stops on Padilla’s trip have included Yad Vashem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and an abandoned Hezbollah tunnel on the Israel-Lebanon border. Padilla said he came away from Yad Vashem “inspired by the resilience of the Jewish people, and committed to peace, security, and prosperity in the region and world.” In a tweet about the Hezbollah tunnel, he noted that “As an Iran-backed proxy, Hezbollah is also a threat to U.S. interests and allies in the region.”

Also in town: Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) delegation visited the newly opened Abrahamic Family House interfaith complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which the Senate minority leader called “a powerful symbol of the strength of the Abraham Accords.”

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Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), a veteran progressive Democrat from the Bay Area, announced on Tuesday that she will run for the seat long held by outgoing Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), ending weeks of speculation about her plans for higher office, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. “I’m running for U.S. Senate because Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has accomplished real things and delivered real change,” Lee, 76, said in a statement. “That’s what I’ve done my entire career in public service, and it’s what I’ll do in the Senate.”

Three’s a crowd: The 12-term congresswoman joins two other House Democrats, Reps. Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, who launched their campaigns last month. Lee is the first Black woman to enter the primary, which is shaping up to be among the most hotly contested Senate races of the 2024 election cycle. “No one is rolling out the welcome mat, especially for someone like me,” Lee said in a campaign launch video, where she described growing up in segregated El Paso, Texas, among other hardships. “I was the girl they didn’t allow in.”

Middle East outlook: As a longstanding critic of American foreign policy, Lee, an anti-war icon who cast a lone vote against authorizing the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, has sometimes found herself at odds with the pro-Israel establishment in Washington, D.C. While in Congress, where she has represented an Oakland-based House district since 1998, Lee has signed onto legislation that would place restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel and was among a small group of House members who opposed a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

‘Open to listening’: Even as Lee has occasionally strayed from the pro-Israel consensus, some Jewish community members in her district said they have nevertheless maintained a close and cordial relationship with the congresswoman. “She’s always very open to meeting with our community and open to listening to our positions,” Moses Libitzky, a pro-Israel activist who has met with Lee to discuss Middle East policy, told JI. “The problem is she doesn’t always agree with our positions.”

Fundraising challenges: Lee enters the race at a financial disadvantage, with only $52,323 on hand as of last December, according to the latest filings from the Federal Election Commission. Porter, by contrast, had $7.4 million in the bank, while Schiff was sitting on just under $20.9 million. A new super PAC supporting Lee, She Speaks for Me, registered with the FEC last week — and could help close the fundraising gap.

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