On this week’s episode of Jewish Insider’s podcast, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog joins co-hosts Rich Goldberg and Jarrod Bernstein. Herzog, who was appointed to the post in the summer of 2021 by then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and who has served under three prime ministers since coming to Washington, spoke about the Iran nuclear deal, the U.S.-Israel relationship and Israel’s judicial reform. 

On U.S.-Israel relations vis-a-vis Iran: “When I arrived here 15 months ago, the U.S. was heading toward a nuclear deal with Iran, and actually got very close to a JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] 2.0,” Herzog explained. “And, of course, there was a difference of opinion between our government and the U.S. government, and talking about the previous Israeli government, but of course, also the current Israeli government. I must say that in Iran, there’s no opposition coalition in Israel, there’s a broad consensus, and we were concerned that the U.S. is entering a weak deal, weaker even than the original 2015 JCPOA. So when I look at where we were then and where we are today, as I mentioned publicly, the deal is off the table for now — it’s not dead, but it is off the table for a variety of reasons. So taken together, this created an environment that does not lend itself to going back to a deal with Iran.”

On Americans weighing in on Israel’s proposed judicial reforms: “To me, it indicates that those people, almost all of them, deeply care about Israel,” Herzog said. “They’re entitled to their voices and thoughts and concerns, and their voices are heard back home. I have no idea how the debate over judicial reform will end. I know that there are behind-the-scenes efforts to bring about a solution, as I said, that most Israelis will feel comfortable with. And voices from America or from world Jewry are heard in Israel and people understand that. So, the only thing I tell people is, first, don’t be judgmental before there is an outcome… You want to raise concerns, questions or some warning, all is well, but be careful [in] the way you air it and don’t be judgmental before we reach a certain outcome that you can judge. The second thing…is that we are still surrounded by enemies and we are still subjected to a campaign of BDS, and our enemies do not distinguish between those who support judicial reform and those who oppose judicial reform, left and right, they just don’t want to ask to be there, and we have to be aware of [that].”

Bonus lightning round: Favorite Yiddish word or phrase? “Before I came here, a friend of mine told me, ‘There will be moments when you will be very upset, people will enrage you, and you’re a diplomat, you’re supposed to make keep a poker face,’ but there is when you are really upset with someone, there is a Yiddish saying, which I was taught as a young person by a family member, I will not name that family member, but that saying is, ‘mine tuchus aun deyn punim etsvay machatunim, my ass and your face are two machatunim (in-laws).’” Favorite guest for Shabbat dinner? “I recently had a Shabbat dinner with two members of Congress from opposing parties who never spoke to each other before they came to my home, and they spent three hours talking to each other about very important issues. So they were certainly favorite Shabbat guests.” Favorite Israeli wine? “My favorite Israeli wine is called Argaman. Argaman in Hebrew is a type of reddish color. We have a specific type of grape in Israel, which is unique only to Israel, nowhere in the world can you find it. It is called Argaman, and that wine is an excellent Israeli wine, which I like to serve my guests at Shabbat dinners.”

Read more and listen to the podcast here.

In the ornate Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, more than 70 Jewish women leaders gathered on Thursday to hear from Biden administration officials and nosh on hamantaschen to mark both International Women’s Day and Purim. There were many Washington veterans at the first-ever White House Jewish Women’s Forum. But there were also first-timers — college students and rabbis and influencers who had never before earned an invitation to one of the most exclusive addresses in the nation, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.

Purim pride: Thursday’s convening, the first time such an event has been held at the White House, brought together Jewish women from every major Jewish denomination and from across the country. It was just two days after Purim, and each attendee found a mishloach manot, or Purim gift, on her chair: a box of presidential Hershey’s Kisses and a card that read “Happy Purim” under the presidential seal.

Jewish learning: Attendees told JI it felt less like a political event than a learning opportunity, akin to a tight-knit group gathering for a talk from their rabbi on a Shabbat afternoon. But instead of a rabbi they heard an in-depth conversation with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. The event comes amid a White House effort to create a national plan on antisemitism, which Emhoff has championed. In his conversation, moderated by former White House speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz, Emhoff praised the officials working on the plan but called for a broader society-wide approach to antisemitism. “A plan is only a plan. We need to communicate this better. We need to reach younger people,” said Emhoff, who recently traveled to Poland and Germany to learn about the Holocaust and discuss antisemitism. “We need good solid counter-programming that’s positive and joyful and truthful and pushes back. Leaders need to call it out.”

Who’s who: The three-hour event also featured presentations from Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology; and Rosie Hidalgo, senior advisor on gender-based violence and special assistant to the president. Mira Resnick, deputy assistant secretary of state for regional security in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, spoke about normalization between Israel and Arab nations. 

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Efforts to facilitate the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel and strategies for using the Abraham Accords to facilitate progress toward peace between Israelis and Palestinians took center stage at a House hearing focused on expanding the Abraham Accords on Thursday, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia Subcommittee heard testimony yesterday from Abraham Accords Peace Institute President Rob Greenway, former CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Atlantic Council distinguished fellow Daniel Shapiro.

Saudi predictions: Hours before the hearing, The Wall Street Journalpublished a report that Saudi Arabia had asked for U.S. security guarantees, decreased restrictions on arms sales and assistance in developing its civilian nuclear program as specific preconditions for normalization with Israel. Shapiro suggested that Saudi-Israel normalization “cannot be divorced from the U.S.-Saudi relationship” and other U.S. interests. He added that the U.S. would likely seek its own concessions from Saudi Arabia, such commitments to stable oil markets and cooperation on Russia and China issues, in the event of such an agreement. Greenway likewise said that he concluded, while working on the National Security Council during the Trump administration, that “this was really about the Riyadh-Washington relationship and has a lot less to do with the relationship with Israel.” Public discussion of normalization, he added, “usually becomes detrimental.”

Free-trade focus: Greenway proposed the establishment of an Abraham Accords free-trade area and new overland trade routes connecting the Mediterranean and the Gulf; the creation of a fund to combat poverty and improve health, education and infrastructure; the establishment of a regional security architecture; and regional cooperation to offset European energy shortages brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He later noted that a U.S. failure to engage in the region will open opportunities for China. Shapiro urged the creation of both a U.S.-led defense cooperative and a regionally led cooperative organization akin to the European Union or Association of Southeast Asian Nations that can facilitate multilateral cooperation “at every level in every area of governance,” potentially including a free-trade zone. Such an organization, he said, would incentivize new members to join the Abraham Accords and could act “in parallel” with the Negev Forum.

Home turf: Difficulties in securing Saudi normalization with Israel are also intimately tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the panelists said. “The Palestinian situation still does resonate in many of these countries,” Votel said. “This is a particular challenge in Saudi Arabia, I believe, because of their role as the custodian of the holy sites. And so this is more delicate for them. And as a result, it will take more time and more effort to work through that particular issue with the Saudis.” As part of a potential U.S.-brokered Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, Shapiro predicted that Saudi Arabia could also seek concessions from Israel related to the Palestinians, that Israel might seek greater U.S. security assistance and that the U.S. might seek Israeli steps to preserve the viability of a two-state solution.

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A group of 16 Jewish House Democrats wrote yesterday to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid urging Israeli officials to halt efforts to pass a judicial reform package as currently constituted and to come together to negotiate a compromise, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod learned exclusively.

Pump the brakes: “As members of the Jewish diaspora and friends of Israel, we are heartened by President Herzog’s calls for compromise, and we call on the government to suspend its efforts to pass the bills,” the legislators wrote in a letter obtained by JI. “We urge all parties to come together to fully consider the potential implications of the changes being debated in the Knesset and to negotiate fairly and openly so that a broadly acceptable resolution can be reached and Israel can continue to be the flourishing beacon of democracy we have long admired.”

Signatories: The letter was signed by lawmakers representing various factions of the Democratic Party, including both pro-Israel stalwarts and lawmakers who have historically been more critical of Israel policy. The signatories include Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Becca Balint (D-VT), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), David Cicilline (D-RI), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Mike Levin (D-CA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Susan Wild (D-PA). Nadler and Schneider organized the letter.

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Speaking at the New Orleans Book Festival on Thursday, philanthropist and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, who recently released How to Invest: Masters of the Craft, said he engages in “patriotic philanthropy” — efforts that have included funding the restorations of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, Hannah Levitan reports for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Backstory: “I also try to do a lot to give back to the country, what I call ‘patriotic philanthropy,’ which is to… remind people the history and heritage of our country,” Rubenstein said in conversation with Gary Ginsberg, author of First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents. “So I fixed the Washington Monument. Buy the Magna Carta, buy the Declaration of Independence and put it on display. Why? Well, because when people see these things in person, it makes them learn more about our country than they do.”

Career path: Rubenstein graduated from the University of Chicago Law School with the hopes of going into government and politics, he explained to Ginsberg. After graduating, Rubenstein served as advisor for lawyer Ted Sorensen, but soon realized he wasn’t suited for law. At 27, Rubenstein shifted his career focus and went to work as deputy domestic policy advisor for President Jimmy Carter. “You should experiment with many different things in your career, because it’s very unlikely that you’re going to find … what you want to do when you’re very young,” Rubenstein said. “More likely [than] not, you’ll experiment, you’ll find different things. And hopefully, by the age of your mid-30s, you’ll find the thing that you really want to do, and that will be your passion in life.”

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Bonus: Rubenstein is slated to speak with UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba in a fireside chat titled “Building Bridges: A Discussion on the Abraham Accords” on Monday at the Israel Bonds’ International Leadership Conference in Washington.