Leadership

ELNET Board members Worldwide

Larry Hochberg

Co-Founder and Chairman, Friends of ELNET

Larry Hochberg is an internationally renowned lay leader and philanthropist…

who served as National Chairman of the Friends of the IDF, National Officer of AIPAC, and held national leadership positions with the UJC, UJA, the Annual and Israel Emergency Campaigns of Chicago’s Jewish United Fund. Mr. Hochberg chaired the Advisory Committee of the American Jewish Committee’s Chicago chapter and served on the Dean’s Council of Northwestern University. He is is the founder, CEO and chairman of Sportmart Inc. acquired by Sports Authority.

ISRAEL

Dan Meridor

Former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Finance of Israel

Dan Meridor is former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy, and Minister of Justice…

Mr. Meridor was Chairman of Israel’s Defence Doctrine Committee and served as Chairman of The Jerusalem Foundation, Deputy Chairman of the Board of INSS (Institute for National Security Studies), and a Senior Fellow at Israel Democracy Institute. He served also as the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Knesset.

Amb. Danny Ayalon

Israel’s Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the U.S.

Danny Ayalon is an Israeli diplomat, columnist and businessman. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister and as a member of the Knesset…

He was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2002 until 2006. Previously, he worked as senior foreign policy advisor to Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak, and Benjamin Netanyahu. He has also served as a Member of the Executive Board, University Center, Ariel; Vice Chair of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, and a Board Member of the America-Israel Friendship League.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror

Former National Security Advisor
of Israel

General Amidror was National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu and chairman of the National Security Council (2011-2013)…

He served for 36 years in senior IDF posts (1966-2002), including as a commander of the Military Colleges, military secretary to the Minister of Defense, director of the Intelligence Analysis Division in Military Intelligence, and chief intelligence officer of the Northern Command. Today, he is Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies, a leading security think tank.

Amb. Dani Dayan

Chairman of Yad Vashem

Dani Dayan was the Consul General of Israel in New York, accredited also to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Ohio…

Previously he served as the Chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria. For more than two decades, he was Chairman and CEO of a group of information technology firms. Dayan holds an M.Sc. in Finance and B.Sc. in Economics and Computer Science.

Haim Tomer

Former Mossad Official

Haim Tomer retired from a long lasting service within the Israeli security community in January 2014…

within which he was holding key position in Israel and overseas. Among them Mr. Tomer held a number of high-level positions in the Mossad. Since his retirement, Mr. Tomer is employed as a senior consultant for leading Israeli and international cyber-intelligence companies.

Sani Sanilevich

Former Advisor and Campaign Manager for Israel’s Prime Minister

Sani Sanilevich is a businessman and an entrepreneur. He served as advisor and campaign manager for Israel’s Prime Minister…

Benjamin Netanyahu between 2006-2009. He is an Israeli Navy officer in the rank of a captain, and voluntarily served as a commanding officer of two Israeli special police force units. Sanilevich is also a farmer and winemaker.

Ron Zuckerman

Israeli Tech Entrepreneur

Ron Zuckerman is an Israeli tech entrepreneur with years of experience in high-profile technology entrepreneurship and investing. He has founded…

and co-founded several companies including Sapiens International, Precise Software, RayV Inc and Archimedicx. He is a Co-Founder and also serves as Director at Whip Media. He served as a Director on Amdocs, GVT Telecom (Brazil) and Wintegra, and as an advisor at Compound. Mr. Zuckerman holds a B.Sc degree in Economics from Brandeis University.

Janet Gordon

Vice President, Geller Family Foundation

Ms. Janet Gordon serves as Vice President of the Geller Foundation. The foundation provides financial support to 43 private Jewish schools throughout the U.S…

She assists approximately 1,500 students at ten different universities in Israel with accounting and interest free loans. Ms. Gordon studied business at the Pratt Institute in New York City. She has held positions in France, Germany and Israel in the private sectors as an accountant. Ms. Gordon is also a member of Israeli American Council (IAC), Merona Leadership Foundation, StandWIthUs and AIPAC.

EUROPE

Sam Pinto

After a career in the banking world in France, Asia and the USA, mainly in the Edmond de Rothschild Group, Sam Pinto made aliyah to Israel in 2009…

After moving to Israel, Pinto decided to devote himself mainly to philanthropic activism including: Baït Ham which helps young adolescents in difficulty, and Kiah-Alliance – Israeli branch of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, the Franco-Israeli high school of Mikve Israel and Agudat Sabah, which supports activities in the Israeli periphery.

Dr. Michel Bodkier

Dr. Michel Bodkier MD is the co- founder of ELSAN Group, first private hospitals chain in France, with 2 million patients and 2 billion euros of revenues…

turning now to international field. Previously MD, practicing in vascular examinations. Member of the board of philanthropic charitable Eva & Edward Underwood Foundation to help needy students for their scholarships.

Kenneth Weinstein

Kenneth R. Weinstein is currently the Walter P. Stern Distinguished Fellow at Hudson Institute. From 2011 through 2020, Dr. Weinstein served as president and chief executive officer of Hudson.

He joined the Institute in 1991, was appointed CEO in June 2005, and was named president and CEO in March 2011. He serves as Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the oversight body for U.S. government civilian international media, including the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting. Weinstein previously served by presidential appointment and Senate confirmation on the National Humanities Council and is a regular guest in media.

Pierre Dassas

Pierre Dassas is the chairman of the House of the Rising Stars Foundation and the Africa Alive Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland…

as well as a board member of the Hudson Institute and of the Actigenomics Foundation. He is also Dassas & Co.’s chairman and chief creative officer of the Paris, New York and Moscow companies. In 1980 he created Dassas Communication and ICOM, one of the leading worldwide advertising companies at the time. Pierre Dassas graduated from both Economic Sciences College and Paris Trade and Industry Chamber.

Ralph Gerson

Ralph J. Gerson serves as the Treasurer and Director of the William Davidson Foundation and is also a private investor….

He is the former Board Chairman and former Executive Vice President (1990-2011) of Guardian Industries Corp. Gerson also served as Director of Commerce for the State of Michigan, Special Assistant to the U.S. Trade Representative and Counselor to the President’s Personal Representative to the Middle East Peace Negotiations after the Camp David Accords. He holds a BA from Yale University, MS from the London School of Economics, and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.

Hans Thomas Kessler

Hans Thomas Kessler is a commercial lawyer specializing in the real estate transactions and finance, as well as infrastructure projects…

He has advised numerous real estate investors, owners, financial institutions, construction and engineering firms. Mr. Kessler has worked for several leading International law firms. He studied law and political science at the Universities of Frankfurt, Lausanne, Geneva and Strasbourg, earned the LL.M. at the London School of Economics and Political Science and was a Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

Serge Krancenblum

Serge Krancenblum is the CEO of SGG, a leading multi-family office and investor services provider active in 24 countries…

He is the Chairman of Gatsby & White, the leading life insurance broker in Luxembourg and Switzerland, and acts as a board member of selected real estate and private equity funds as well as of listed and private companies. He holds master’s in finance from ESLSCA and MBA from the University of Connecticut School of Business. He is the Chairman of the Investment Facilation Forum, of the Luxembourg Family Office Association and of the LIMSA, and Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur de la France.

Hubert Leven

Hubert Leven has served as President of the Rashi Foundation in Israel since its founding in 1984 until 2018…

and is one of the founders of the Alliance Israélite Universelle network. From 1962-1999, he directed his brokerage firm in Paris. Leven is the nephew of Gustave Leven, the founder of the Perrier group. He joined his uncle to work with him in the mid-1980s. Leven served on the executive committee of Source Perrier and led a number of its subsidiaries. Among his public position, Mr. Leven serves on the board of Kol Israel Haverim and Sheatufim in Israel and as vice-president of the Alliance Israélite Universelle in Paris. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from Ben-Gurion University, the Technion and Bar Ilan University.

FRIENDS OF ELNET

Eric Edidin

Eric Edidin co-founded Archer Capital Management in 2006. Previously, he was a Managing Director at York Capital Management…

member of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners global investment team, and member of the Blackstone Group’s restructuring advisory team. Mr. Edidin is a board member of the JDRF of Los Angeles, a trustee of the Washington Institute, and member of the investment committee of the Jewish Communal Fund of NY. He received a B.A. degree with highest distinction from the University of Michigan, and an M.B.A from Harvard Business School.

Joseph W. Feinberg

Joseph Feinberg is the Chairman/Director of the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation based in Chicago, Illinois…

The family foundation is a loyal and generous supporter of many worthy charities including Northwestern University and its medical school, the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Besides his philanthropic activity, after working on Wall Street for over three decades, currently Joe is a Managing Director at Hightower Advisors. His group assists affluent investors, businesses, and non-profits in Accumulating and Protecting and Transferring their Wealth.

Robert L. Feldman

Robert L. Feldman is a graduate of Tufts University and received his J.D. from S.M.U. Dedman School of Law. Mr. Feldman was a partner at…

Thomas, Feldman & Wilshusen, LLP and its predecessor firm since 1982, and practiced law with the firm or predecessor group since graduating law school. He retired in June 2020. Mr. Feldman has participated in many civic activities, including as a volunteer Alumni Board member and serving on the Board of Trustees of St. Mark’s. His Jewish community engagement features a former presidency of Congregation Shearith Israel and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He also has been an Office for the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas and on its Board of Directors as well. Additionally, he is on the Board of the Anti-Defamation League, North Texas and Oklahoma Region.

Steven J. Fishman

Steven J. Fishman is the managing partner of the accounting firm Fishman, Block + Diamond, LLP. He has four decades of experience in providing…

tax, trust and estate, accounting, and business advisory services, specializing in working with high-net-worth individuals and their closely-held businesses, primarily in the real estate field. Mr. Fishman and his wife Jodie are very active in Jewish community leadership. He served as a Past President and is a lifetime board member of Stephen Wise Temple, Chair of the local executive committee, and National Council member of AIPAC, a board member of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Impact Forum, Readers to Leaders (a teen literacy program), Hebrew Union College, and the immediate past Chair, and member of the Los Angeles Birthright Israel Leadership Council.

Robert T. Flesh

Robert T. (Tom) Flesh is CEO and President of Homewood Realty and Community Asset Management Company…

and serves on the Board of Directors of Thrifty Oil Co. and its affiliated companies. Tom, a past President of Sinai Temple of Los Angeles, is a member of its Board of Directors. He and his wife, Judy Orden Flesh, are active in interfaith unity efforts, Jewish and Israel based institutions, and organizations focused on education and at risk youth. Tom has served on several community boards and commissions. Judy and Tom have four married children and ten grandchildren.

Leonard Foxman

Leonard Foxman for over 30 years served as the CEO and Founder of Eagle Test Systems, Inc., producing automatic semiconductor…

testing systems, with offices in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Eagle became a publicly owned company in 2006 (EGLT-NASDAQ), and was sold to Teradyne, Inc in 2008. He then served as the General Manager of Eagle Test Systems Division of Teradyne, Inc. Foxman is now President of the Foxman Family Foundation in Highland Park, IL, as well as Treasurer of the charitable Cool Clothes Closet.

Orete Jonas Harkavy

Orete Harkavy is Co-Executive Director of the Elm Family Foundation.

The Foundation’s mission is to support Jewish education and the State of Israel. She earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law. She is an Admission Engagement Manager at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and serves on the Board of Directors of Moriah Congregation in Deerfield, Illinois.

Andrew Hochberg

Mr. Andrew Hochberg is a board member of Friends of ELNET and Chairman of the Board of ELNET-Israel. Mr. Hochberg is a leader in the Chicago Jewish community…

serving as Chairman of the Board for the Jewish Federation of Chicago, and formerly chairing its Overall Planning and Allocation Committee and Government Affairs Committee. Mr. Hochberg led fundraising for the Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund and served as a presidential appointee to the US Holocaust Memorial Committee. He is a founder and CEO of a real estate investment firm Next Realty. He holds BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and Juris Doctor from Northwestern University.

Jerry Rosenberg

Jerry Rosenberg is Vice-Chairman of the National Distributing Company and Partner at the Republic National Distributing Company…

Jointly with his wife Dulcy, he co-founded the Alfred and Adele Davis Academy, as well as Project Newborn in Miami Florida. He serves on the boards of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, William Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum in Atlanta Georgia, Atlanta Opera, the Schenck School for Children with Dyslexia, Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, and is a member of the AIPAC Minyan Group.

Kenneth A. Ruby

Kenneth A. Ruby is a former President of Stephen S. Wise Temple. He is also a member of the Hebrew Union College Board of Governors…

emeritus, and a board member and Chairman of the Construction Committee of the Skirball Cultural Center. He was responsible for building over 3500 apartment units while with R&B Development Company, which he helped found. After leaving R&B Development Co., he founded Ken Ruby Construction Co., a real estate development, contractor and management company.

Eli Saulson

Eli Saulson is a director of the William Davidson Foundation, a private family foundation based in metro Detroit…

The Foundation’s primary focus areas are Jewish Life, Arts & Culture, and Entrepreneurship, with a strong focus on Southeast Michigan and in Israel. Saulson was formerly an executive at Guardian Industries and is now a real estate investor. He graduated from the Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan and also studied at the London School of Economics. He lives in Franklin, Michigan with his wife, Michele, and four children

Susan Wagner

Susan is CEO of the Wagner family office and managing principal of Jarnis United Properties, the family’s umbrella real estate investment company…

Jarnis owns commercial real estate and its current portfolio is made up primarily of multi-family, medical/nursing facilities and self-storage. Susan is also President of the Nathan and Esther K. Wagner Family Foundation. Outside of the family office, Susan Wagner serves on the board of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy – a premier Washington think tank on Middle East policy – and CEJP (Center for Entrepreneurial Jewish Philanthropy) which facilitates contributions to pro-peace and pro-Israel non-profits.

Advisors

Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin

Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin served for more than a decade as Director of the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)….

Moreover, he served 41 years in the IDF, as a member of the General Staff, Deputy Commander of the Air Force, Commander of Combat Squadrons, and Commander of Air Force Bases. During his service in the Air Force, he crossed multiple enemy lines and participated as a combat pilot in the Yom Kippur War, in addition to taking part in attacks on nuclear reactors in Iraq. Formerly an IDF attaché to the United States, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yadlin served as Head of the Defense Intelligence Directorate from 2006-2010. In 2015, he was a candidate for defense minister of the “Zionist Union.”

Europe & U.S. Advisory boards

Karl-Ulrich Ansorg

Karl-Ulrich Ansorg is the founder and managing partner of the German real-estate investor Ansorg Development…

He successfully realized sustainable real-estate projects all over Germany. He previously held leadership roles as partner of Ansorg lighting which has grown significantly in size under his leadership. Karl-Ulrich Ansorg serves as member of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University Jerusalem and chairman of the German friendship organization of Hebrew University in Berlin which is the leading fundraising association within the European community of Hebrew University friends.

Rasmus C. Beck

Since the end of 2020 Rasmus C. Beck works as CEO for the Corporation for Business Development Duisburg (GFW)…

Before that, he was CEO at Business Metropole Ruhr, linking the Ruhr area with the startup nation Israel. Previous career stages were at hannoverimpuls GmbH and the Dortmund Economic Development Agency. Rasmus C. Beck is a member of the Board of Directors of the TCI Network, the world’s leading network of innovative economic ecosystems.

NIcola Beer

Nicola Beer is Vice President and Member of the European Parliament…

In her function as chair of the working group against anti-Semitism and as a member of the Israeli delegation, she works on cross-cutting issues related to Israel. She was a member of the German Bundestag and for a long time acted as General Secretary of the FDP. Before that, she held the office of Hessian Minister of Education and State Secretary for European Affairs in the Hessian Ministry of Justice, Integration and Europe.

Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Bender

Prof. Dr. Bender is Senior Advisor and Chairman of the Fraport AG, owner and operator of Frankfurt airport and some thirty airports worldwide…

Prior to that, he worked as CEO of Schenker & Co and led the industrial association “Verkehrsforum Bahn”. Today, he serves on various supervisory and advisory boards in the fields of finance, air-travel cargo, and sports.

Shelley Berkley

Shelley Berkley is a former a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada…

for Nevada’s 1st congressional district, serving from 1999 to 2013. She is the CEO and senior provost for Touro University Nevada Western Division. Prior to serving in Congress, Berkeley was an attorney for the Nevada State Commerce Department, in-house counsel for Southwest Gas Corporation, and Vice President for Government and Legal Affairs for the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. She holds BA in Political Science from the University of Nevada, and a law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Howard Berman

Howard Berman is an attorney and former Democratic US Representative, last serving California’s 28th congressional district…

and serving in the US Congress from 1983 to 2013, including as the Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He serves on the board of trustees of the Asia Foundation, the board of the National Democratic Institute, the Immigration Task Force of the Bipartisan Policy Center, and the Board of Directors of the Pacific Council on International Policy, and is Vice Chair of the Advisory Board to RAND Corporation, Center for Middle East Policy.

Norm Coleman

Norm Coleman served as a US Senator for Minnesota from 2003 until 2009. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota…

beforehand serving as Minnesota’s chief prosecutor and Solicitor General. He chairs the Republican Jewish Coalition, serves on the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy, and is a member of the Advisory Council of the US Global Leadership Coalition. He holds BA degree from Hofstra University and Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College.

Mark Kirk

Mark Kirk was US Senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017 and a member of the Republican Party, as well as a member of the US…

House of Representatives Prior to that, he was an Intelligence Officer in the Navy Reserve and holds the rank of Commander. He served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, and Bosnia, and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for his service in Kosovo. He holds BA from Cornell University, MA from the London School of Economics and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University.

Joseph Lieberman

Joseph Lieberman is former US Senator from Connecticut as a member of Democratic Party and independent…

He was elected to the Connecticut State Senate in 1970 where he served for ten years. Lieberman then served as Connecticut’s Attorney General from 1983 until 1988, when he went on to win his first election to the US Senate in 1988, winning the seat twice more in 1994 and 2000. He holds law degree from Yale Law School.

Kerstin Müller

Kerstin Müller is a Senior Associate Fellow at the renowned DGPA – German Council on Foreign Relations.

Before she held various political positions, including chairwoman of the Green parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office, and foreign affairs spokesperson of the Greens in the Bundestag. Following her career in German politics, she previously headed the office of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation in Israel.

Karin Prien

Karin Prien is the current minister for education, science and cultural affairs of the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein…

and Vice-Chair of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Schleswig-Holstein. In 2011, she was elected to the state senate of the federal state of Hamburg. Since 2018 Karin Prien has also served as spokesperson of the Jewish Forum within the CDU.

Ariel Schiff

Ariel Schiff is the founder and CEO of the Berlin-based AMANO Group. Founded in 2009 together with Artur Süsskind…

the group’s portfolio comprises seven hotels in several German cities with more international projects currently underway. In 2019, Ariel Schiff received the award for hotelier of the year.

Axel Wallrabenstein

Axel Wallrabenstein has been the Chairman of the MSLGROUP Germany since 2008. Before coming to the MSLGROUP…

he founded and managed the Publicis Public Relations agency (later called Publicis Consultants Germany). Additionally, he serves as head of the advisory board of the German association for digital affairs as well as head of the advisory board of the AllBright Foundation.

Brigitte Zypries

Brigitte Zypries served as German Minister for Justice from 2002 until 2009 and as Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2017 until 2018.

Before taking on the responsibility of leading the ministry for economic affairs and energy, she was tasked with coordinating the fields of IT, air- and space- travel of the ministry as Secretary of State. Brigitte Zypries served as a Member of the German Bundestag for the German Social Democrats from 2005 until 2017.

ELNET Professional Team & Leadership: ELNET boards worldwide.