This event is a part of our Israel-Speaker Series for 5785. As an expert in the field of foreign relations, Elliot Abrams, in conversation with Rabbi Conover, will discuss the the changing dynamics in the middle east and how they affect Israel and the Palestinians. This will be followed by discussion groups facilitated by clergy and staff.

Elliott Abrams is Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.  He served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor in the Administration of President George W. Bush, where he supervised U.S. policy in the Middle East for the White House.

Mr. Abrams was educated at Harvard College, the London School of Economics, and Harvard Law School.  After serving on the staffs of Sen. Henry M. Jackson and Daniel P. Moynihan, he was an Assistant Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration and received the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award from Secretary George P. Shultz.

Mr. Abrams was president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., from 1996 until joining the White House staff.  He was a member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom from 1999 to 2001 and Chairman of the Commission in the latter year, and served an additional term as a member in 2012-2014.  Mr. Abrams served as a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council from 2009 to 2016, and as member of the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy from 2011 to 2023. He is a member of the advisory board established under the Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition, and Chairman of the Tikvah Fund.

Mr. Abrams joined the Bush Administration in June, 2001 as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of the NSC for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Organizations. From December 2002 to February 2005, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of the National Security Council for Near East and North African Affairs.  He served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy from February 2005 to January 2009, and in that capacity supervised both the Near East and North African Affairs, and the Democracy, Human Rights, and International Organizations directorates of the NSC.

Mr. Abrams’ latest book, If You Will It: Rebuilding Jewish Peoplehood for the 21st Century, was published in October 2024.