A Turkish-tied organization that launched in 2023 with an alleged straw-donor fundraiser for former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spent recent weeks selling tickets for a Sept. 20 gathering listing Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) as a “featured speaker ” — even as Zinke’s office insists he’s not attending the event.

The CEO Club New York and Turkish-American Business Association have posted materials online and created a listing on Eventbrite advertising the “World Business Summit New York & Award Ceremony 2026,” to take place at a venue inside The New York Times building during the U.N. General Assembly next month. Prominently displayed is the name and photo of the retiring Montana congressman, who served as secretary of the interior during the first Trump administration.

“We’re bringing together global business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and decision makers for a day of meaningful conversations, networking, and collaboration,” CEO Club Founder Jimmy Cuneyt Gurkan wrote on LinkedIn, adding that Zinke was “already confirmed” to appear along with a roster of private sector guests.

Previous reporting has identified Cuneyt Gurkan as the unnamed, unindicted “public relations representative” in the criminal complaint against Adams who plotted to illegally funnel large amounts of money from a Turkish-American businessman into the then-mayor’s later-aborted reelection campaign — and the CEO Club’s inaugural gathering in October 2023 has been identified as the event used to mask the donations as lawful gifts from attendees. 

Prosecutors described the “public relations representative” as an associate of a “Turkish official” who directed foreign money into Adams’ campaign coffers and arranged perks from state-owned Turkish Airlines in exchange for favorable treatment.

The New York Times and other publications have outed that official as Reyhan Özgür, the former Turkish consul general. The indictment states that Özgür and a Turkish Airlines official shared a donation link for the 2023 CEO Club event.

Cuneyt Gurkan and the CEO Club did not respond to repeated inquiries for this story. The Times Center, the event space in the paper’s Manhattan headquarters, told Jewish Insider that it has “been in touch with” the CEO Club about using the space in the 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. slot listed in the promotions but does not yet have a contract in place.

But, after initially avoiding answering questions about whether Zinke would attend the event, the congressman’s team told JI that he will not be there. Asked if the congressman had ever intended to participate in the event, and if he will be in New York City on that date, his office would only answer that it was never on his official schedule and that his House staff never interacted with the CEO Club.

Zinke has a mixed history with Turkey — but has had past contact with the network allegedly involved in the Adams bribery scheme. Foreign Agent Registration Act filings show that as a congressman he has had contact with lobbyists for Turkey’s government and ruling political party both before joining the first Trump administration and since returning to the Hill. 

As interior secretary, Zinke came under fire from ethics watchdogs in 2018 for bringing an official security team on a vacation to Turkey, a trip that also included a stop in Greece.

While that controversy received broad coverage, few U.S. outlets reported that Zinke’s wife — who had previously lived in Turkey — received an award from Turk of America magazine and TOA Consulting. Turk of America’s publisher was Cuneyt Gurkan’s co-conspirator in the CEO Club’s straw-donor scheme for Adams, while Cuneyt Gurkan at the time served as TOA Consulting’s chief operating officer, according to LinkedIn and media appearances.

Personally presenting the award to Lola Zinke was another key figure in the Adams scandal: Turkish Airlines executive Cenk Ocal. Cuneyt Gurkan took a selfie with the interior secretary at the event, and the secretary lauded the U.S. partnership with Turkey.

“Certainly, they’re regional and strategic partners, and the people of the United States and Turkey, they love each other, as shown here,” video posted to YouTube shows Zinke saying. “Look at our mutual values and our core strengths, and it’s about the people, that there’s a long-time bond and a relationship between the Turkish people and the United States.”

Just months later, however, the Republican was briefly the target of retaliatory Turkish sanctions after the U.S. sought to penalize the Mediterranean nation for detaining an American pastor. Experts attributed the move against Zinke to confusion by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the U.S. Department of the Interior’s remit, as a similarly named ministry in Ankara handles domestic security.

Back in Congress, Zinke — who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee — has coupled praise for Turkey as a NATO ally with concern about Ankara’s support for Hamas. In a markup session last fall, he opposed an amendment that would compel consideration of Israeli military advantage when making arms sales to the country, a standard applied to all other Middle Eastern countries.

The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate announced on Tuesday the formation of its inaugural advisory board to help guide the organization. 

The five board members of the organization, founded by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, includes former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan; Dentons CEO Kate Barton; Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff; and Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav. 

The organization said the board will advise on strategy to combat antisemitism and help deepen institutional relationships.  

“Their engagement sends a powerful message: combating antisemitism and hate is a shared responsibility, and one that needs leadership,” Kraft said in a statement. “This group embodies the values of the Blue Square Alliance, and we are deeply grateful that they are bringing their experience, perspective, and influence to our mission as we continue to build bridges.”

“Bank of America supports the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate because antisemitism and other forms of hate must be called out and addressed,” said Moynihan. “I look forward to working with the other members of the advisory group.”

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s organization focused on combating antisemitism condemned Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua for performing an antisemitic dance on social media. 

After Kraft’s foundation and other leading figures spoke out, Nacua offered an apology Thursday afternoon.

“We must all reject the antisemitic tropes, dances and stereotypes shared between wide receiver Puka Nacua and [online streamer] Adin Ross,” Adam Katz, president of the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, told Jewish Insider. 

During Ross’ livestream on Tuesday, he taught the wide receiver an antisemitic touchdown celebration, which ended with Nacua looking into the camera and rubbing his hands together — a stereotypical movement indicating greed that Ross’ fans refer to as his “iconic Jewish dance.”

Ross then asked Nacua to perform the celebratory dance during the Rams’ game against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night, to which Nacua agreed. 

After facing significant backlash, Nacua issued an apology on Thursday, stating that at the time of the livestream, he had “no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetrated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people.” 

“I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry or hate of another group of people.”  

The incident came as Jewish communities are still reeling after a mass shooting killed 15 at a Hanukkah celebration at Australia’s Bondi Beach.

“The Blue Square Alliance Against Hate recognizes the power of sports to bring people together across divides and around the world,” Katz told JI. “It’s imperative that we continue to use these moments to spotlight the best of humanity, and inspire, educate and create allyship within sports.”

In 1999, with the lofty goal of bringing every young Jewish adult to Israel free of cost, the nascent Birthright Israel launched its first trip to the Jewish state. Over the next 25 years, the organization would bring over 900,000 young Jews from some 70 countries to Israel. 

Last night, at a gala marking a quarter century of activity at Manhattan’s Pier Sixty, Birthright Israel Foundation’s CEO Elias Saratovsky announced two new goals: a $900 million fundraising campaign aimed at securing the organization’s future and bringing 200,000 participants to Israel over the next five years.

The campaign has already secured more than $220 million in commitments, Saratovsky told eJewishPhilanthropy — $132 million toward its $650 million goal for trips, and $90 million toward its $250 million goal for legacy commitments.

“We have a solid foundation of gifts,” he told eJP. “We’re grateful to everyone who has given so far, and now the opportunity we have in front of us is to ask the entire Jewish community to support an organization that has impacted the entire Jewish world over the last two and a half decades.”

Alongside Jewish summer camps, Birthright trips are credited with increased connection to Israel and Jewish engagement among participants, research from Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies has found. A participant on the first Birthright Israel trip, Saratovsky also credits that experience for his own Jewish involvement. 

But at $5,000 per participant, the signature trips are also a mammoth financial undertaking, requiring both logistical mastery and a constant funding stream. (See: the organization’s efforts to quickly charter a cruise ship in order to evacuate participants who were stranded in Israel after the skies were closed during the war with Iran last June.)

Since its early days, Birthright has benefited from support from some of the Jewish community’s most prolific donors — chief among them Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, as well as Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson, who donated half a billion to the organization over 15 years; following Sheldon Adelson’s death in 2021, the family scaled back its contributions, encouraging other donors to fill the gap. 

Many of those supporters — representing nearly every major Jewish foundation and individual donor family — turned out for the Manhattan gala — a sprawling, candlelit affair packed to capacity. Attended by nearly 1,000 trip alumni, along with Jewish professionals and donors, Lynn Schusterman was honored for her contribution to the project, delivering a speech about the love that her late husband, Charles, had for Israel and the butterfly effect she’s witnessed since the program launched. 

“Each of you in this room has the power and the responsibility to decide how the story of Israel and the Jewish people unfolds. When my late husband, Charlie, passed away, I had this idea of creating what I call ‘the Charlie’ — young people who had gone on Birthright, got past their community and [gave] back from what they had learned and the impact of Birthright,” said Schusterman. 

The event was emceed by Jonah Platt. Schusterman’s daughter, Stacy, and the co-president of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Lisa Eisen, co-chaired the event. Other speakers included Birthright Israel cofounder Charles Bronfman, Saratovsky and Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark.  

“This is a room filled with leaders, with dreamers, with community,” said Platt. 

Fortunately, for an organization seeking nearly $700 million in donations, it was also a room filled with philanthropists.