Register in advance. A month after the historic signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, UAE, and Bahrain, the JCRC will host Ambassador Barbara A. Leaf, Lapidus Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former Ambassador to the UAE and Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, Executive Director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), for a discussion moderated by the JCRC's Ron Halber on the accords and what we can expect in the Middle East in the near future.
The webinar will focus on implications of the recent Israeli normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain and possibly others to follow, the relationship between Israel and the Arab/Muslim world, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and what impact it may have on the US-Israel relationship.
Speakers:
AMBASSADOR BARBARA A. LEAF
Ambassador Barbara A. Leaf, former U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates from 2014-2018, is the Ruth and Sid Lapidus Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Beth and David Geduld Program on Arab Politics. She served in high-level positions at Foggy Bottom and abroad, including deputy assistant secretary of state for the Arabian Peninsula in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and as deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq. Ambassador Leaf also served as the department’s first director of the Office of Iranian Affairs and has held postings in Rome, Sarajevo, Paris, Cairo, Tunis, Jerusalem, and Port-au-Prince. Ambassador Leaf departed government as a member of the Senior Foreign Service and has received numerous Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor Awards throughout her career. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary, holds a master's degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and speaks 5 languages; English, Arabic, French, Italian, and Serbo-Croatian.
MAJ. GEN. (RET.) AMOS YADLIN
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin was named Executive Director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in November, 2011, after more than 40 years of service in the Israel Defense Forces, nine of which he was a member of the IDF General Staff. He served as the IDF’s chief of Military Intelligence, the IDF attaché to the United States, commander of the IDF Military Colleges and the National Defense College and a former deputy commander of the Israel Air Force. He also served as Head of the Israeli Air Force Planning Department, while accumulating about 5,000 flight hours and flying more than 250 combat missions behind enemy lines. He participated in the Yom Kippur War (1973), Operation Peace for Galilee (1982), and Operation Tamuz – the destruction of the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq (1981). Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yadlin holds a B.A. with honors in economics and business administration from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
RON HALBER
Executive Director
Ron has served as the JCRC Executive Director since 2001. Prior, he served in other capacities at the JCRC since 1997, including as Associate Director. Under his leadership, the JCRC developed a wide range of strategic initiatives; secured tens of millions of dollars for Jewish agencies, passed numerous piece of state-wide and local legislation of concern to the Jewish community, developed creative new pro-Israel initiatives, and strengthened relationships with other faith and minority groups.
He is the recipient of the 2006 Ted B. Farber Professional Excellence Award and the 2001 Professional of the Year Award from the Association of Community Government Affairs Directors. Prior to his tenure at the JCRC, Ron was the Political Coordinator for the Montgomery County Democratic Party, was the Community Liaison for former NY State Senator Martin Solomon and served on the staff of several political campaigns, including U.S. Senator Charles Schumer. He holds a Master’s Degree from Georgetown University and Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Albany in New York.
Ron and his wife Michelle live in Gaithersburg with their three children.