No Bibi, No Women?
The Jewish Federations of North America earlier this week had a somewhat awkward task: To explain to its many members that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t going to attend the 2011 conference next month in Denver after all.
“As in any conference, program changes arise,” read the October 24 memo, which went on to explain that the Prime Minister regretfully had other obligations on his busy calendar.
That’s understandable. What’s a little harder to understand is another absence: women headliners.
Here’s how the official JFNA release describes the big names attending the three-day conference:
“Among the headliners scheduled to appear are global political leaders such as Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro; top journalists Peter Beinart (author of a much-debated article on American Jewry), James Carroll (author of “Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) and Aluf Benn, editor of the leading Israeli daily newspaper Ha’aretz; leading-edge business thinkers such as the retired president of Starbucks, Howard Behar; the founder of the magazine Fast Company, Bill Taylor; and many other fascinating figures.”
You’ll notice not a single woman on this list.
Continuing the theme, the agency is touting a massive social action event that will culminate in a party starring three hip Jewish musicians. Yep, all men.
Surely, there are prominent and talented women active in the federation system, including the current chair of the JFNA board. Can it really be that the largest meeting of the organized Jewish community in North America can’t find a single female to put in its official announcements? At a time when women remain sorely missing from the American Jewish establishment leadership, this oversight is telling.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.