Brian Lurie Named New Israel Fund Head

By Haaretz July 2, 2012

American Jewish activist Brian Lurie has been appointed president of the New Israel Fund, succeeding former Meretz MK Naomi Chazan, who served four tumultuous years in the post.

Lurie, a rabbi by training, was CEO of the San Francisco Jewish Federation for 17 years and has also been involved in advancing Arab-Jewish relations.

The New Israel Fund, whose Israeli headquarters is in Jerusalem, has been involved in advancing a range of projects focusing on civil society and equality in Israel.

In 2010, the New Israel Fund and Chazan herself were targeted in a campaign by the right-wing Im Tirzu organization, which claimed that they had funded groups that assisted the United Nations-appointed Goldstone Commission in its probe of Israel’s military operation in Gaza. The report has been widely criticized as being unfair to Israel. Im Tirzu ads featured Chazan with a horn coming out of her forehead.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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