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Malcolm Hoenlein was the executive vice chairman of the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP; commonly Presidents' Conference) is the umbrella organization for the American Jewish community. Comprising 53 national Jewish organizations across the political spectrum, ...
from June 1986 until 2019. He was succeeded by William Daroff. He is the founding executive director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.


Early life and career

Born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Hoenlein received his B.A from
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
and his Ph.D from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
. While he was at college, Hoenlein helped to found the North American Jewish Student Network and served as its chairman. NAJSN was the North American affiliate of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS). He has taught international relations and served as a Middle East specialist at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). In addition, he served on the editorial staff of '' Orbis'', FPRI's journal of international affairs. Hoenlein is the recipient of many awards and tributes from organizations and individuals, including State of Israel Bonds, President Ronald Reagan, American ORT, Brandeis University
Ruppin Academic Center Israel
Jerusalem College of Technology, and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations. He played a key role in organizing the massive National Solidarity Rally for Israel in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2002. A recent poll ranks him as the most influential American leader on Jewish community affairs. Hoenlein is associated with and serves on the boards of many communal, educational and civic organizations including the Council on Foreign Relations, America-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the Uzbekistan-U.S. Chamber, the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, Jerusalem's Sha'arey Tzedek Medical Center, the Fairness Project and One Family. He is chairman of America's Voices in Israel and co-chair of Sharing for Life. He serves on the Board of Directors or Advisory Board of several companies, including
Bank Leumi Bank Leumi (, lit. ''National Bank''; ) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust () Limited formed before in London by members of the Zionism, ...
USA. He is also the Director of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals since 2001. President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
appointed Hoenlein to serve on the honorary delegation to accompany him to
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the
State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
in May 2008.


Political opinions

On Sept 18, 2008, Hoenlein announced that the coalition of groups sponsoring a rally to protest
Iranian President The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran () is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the second highest-ranking official, after the supreme leader. The first election was held in 1980 and was won by Abulhassan Banisa ...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...
had concluded they must rescind an invitation to vice presidential candidate Gov.
Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...
. According to an interview Hoenlein gave to NBC/NJ, the invitation was initially extended to balance Sen.
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, who had long been on the rally agenda. The sequence of events became highly politicized, gaining significant media attention. According to AP, Palin blamed Democrats for withdrawing the rally invitation. Palin complained to supporters that "Democrat partisans" had pressured organizers. Sen. Richard Durbin, however, noted "it's very tense political time, the election is so close, and I think there were basic mistakes made in organizing this rally, I'm not being negative, but I think the way the invitations were issued created a problem. I'm sure they never intended this to happen, but it did." Hoenlein stirred further controversy over a conference call during the heat of the campaign with Senator
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
. ''
The Jewish Daily Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...
'' reported that the call was not well received by Jewish leaders who felt it was "inappropriate for the non-partisan group to promote one candidate"s events." One noted, "there is a general perception that the Presidents Conference leans more to the right, and this is yet another example." Hoenlein fired back in an interview with Shalom TV that ''The Forward'' was "not a paper of great import". The
Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the "Associated Press of the Jewish media", JTA serves Jewish and non-Jewish news ...
noted that the animosity with ''The Forward'' is "mutual", noting that "Hoenlein didn't make the cut for the Forward 50," the paper's annual list of most influential Jewish leaders. Hoenlein made news again with his statement that President Barack Obama's June 4, 2009, speech to the Arab world from Cairo dismayed many Jews with its attempt to compare the struggle of the Palestinians with Israel to the World War II Jewish Holocaust. Hoenlein is an advocate of Jewish humanitarian efforts worldwide, and met
Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...
just before the Syrian Uprising.


References


External links


Malcolm Hoenlein Video Gallery
*Allison Hoffman,
King without a Crown
, ''Tablet Magazine''
Malcolm Hoenlein - united we stand
By Aliza Davidovit
Malcolm Hoenlein on L'Chayim
Shalom TV
Guide to the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry collection
at the American Jewish Historical Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoenlein, Malcolm Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Temple University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Jewish American community activists American community activists 21st-century American Jews Soviet Jewry movement activists