On Sunday, the Israeli-American Council will host the IAC Los Angeles Gala 2016, marking a moment of new public prominence for our organization – and its rapid growth across the US.

In the past three years, we have expanded from a single office and a few hundred members in Los Angeles, into a national movement with 10 regional offices – 250,000 members and growing – and a range of groundbreaking national programs.
Yet, we are not just building America’s fastest-growing Jewish organization, we are creating a new identity.
Before we founded the IAC, no one used the term “Israeli-American.”
For years, Israelis lived in America with their suitcases packed, claiming that they were only in the US temporarily and were ready to go back at any moment.

You were forced to label yourself as either American, or as an Israeli who was living in the US. Today we can proudly embrace an Israeli- American identity – centered on that the idea that while our home is in America, our Jewish homeland will always be Israel.

We are engaged as a community as never before in American life, but our thoughts, prayers and conversations are often focused on Israel. In recent months, watching our Israeli brothers and sisters live under constant danger of terrorism and existential dangers, we have felt a deep sense of responsibility to make it clear that they do not face these threats alone.

Through constant text messages, WhatsApp group communications, and phone calls to relatives, we check in with our friends and family back in Israel to ensure that all are safe and sound. With each attack, we feel a deep sense of pain. At IAC events and in conversations with our friends, neighbors, colleagues and acquaintances, we work persistently to explain to the American people what it means to live – day after day – under the specter of terrorism.

We look out at Israel’s difficult neighborhood and recognize the grave dangers facing our Jewish homeland – the potential of a nuclear Iran on the horizon; Hamas tunnels and Hezbollah rockets, ISIS on our southern and eastern borders, and radical Islamist groups in Gaza.

We watch the presidential election closely, paying keen attention as to how the next administration will continue to build the US-Israel partnership. Our organization believes Israeli-Americans’ fluent understanding of both cultures uniquely positions us to serve as a bridge between the Israeli people and the American people.

In particular, the IAC is now engaging Israeli-Americans as a strategic asset for our brothers and sisters in Israel in the fight against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, whose mission is to eradicate the State of Israel by nonmilitary means.

We recently hosted the first-ever meeting at the Cybertech conference in Tel Aviv to tap into Israel’s most brilliant tech minds for the fight against BDS. This month, IAC members launched a partner advocacy organization called the Israeli-American Nexus, which will advocate with policy-makers on behalf of the Israeli-American community and work to advance legislation to ensure that US state and local governments boycott Israel’s boycotters.

With all of these exciting developments, I’m confident that the IAC is just getting started. Rooted in our emerging Israeli-American identity, we will continue to expand across America to strengthen the Jewish people, the Jewish state and the US-Israel alliance.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American philanthropist, national chairman of the Israeli-American Council, real estate entrepreneur and president of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation.

Follow him on Twitter @AdamMilstein and @AdamMilsteinIAC.

I am a nonprofit executive at the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation and an Israeli-American — and I’m also a former Ernst & Young tax attorney who obtained an MBA from UCLA Anderson. I think, and mean, business. Pretty much everything I do is aimed at serving the foundation’s overall mission to strengthen the Jewish people and the State of Israel. So, I get frustrated whenever I see how the limited resources we have in the pro-Israel nonprofit world are being spent, or rather wasted. I am not talking about private jets and fancy offices — that’s not the case, and that is not the problem. I am talking about inefficiency and duplication. I am talking about numerous organizations that share a mission to help Israel, but will not share resources, know-how, contacts, or even just…merge?

In the for-profit world, collaboration happens when it makes sense — when both companies can benefit, and when they can find a way to split the upside fairly. For example, you will find many links between BuzzFeed, Bleacher Report, and CBS Sports. Why? Because it makes sense to use other websites’ content and swap traffic for certain topics. Wouldn’t it be great to see the same thing with pro-Israel organizations? See them share each other’s content on Facebook or re-tweet each other? I’m not saying it doesn’t happen at all, but I would love to see more of that.

What about some mergers and acquisitions? There are so many organizations that do the exact same thing, and even compete in the same markets, cities, and colleges, and for the same donors. What’s the point? The result is a tangled mess of organizations spending time, money and energy just to figure out what everyone else is doing. Every week I get emails and phone calls from people who are starting yet new organizations.

If you really care about Israel, next time you have an idea for something new — whether from within a nonprofit you work for or as an independent activist – first stop and think. Has it been tried in the past? What can you learn from someone else’s success or failure? It is a little tough to think about these things when you need to show your donors that you are the best, the first, and the only one doing a specific thing. But what is best for Israel?

What about better SEO? SMO? CRM systems? Crowdfunding campaigns? Many nonprofits don’t have those. Why? Because they need to keep their overhead low — funders like seeing that 90%-100% of their donation money goes towards activity. But wouldn’t it be great if some of that money also went towards systems that would make the organization’s activities more impactful and more visible? Or went towards bringing in experts who are expensive, but are amazingly professional and effective? These are things that Dan Pallotta talks about a lot — I recommend following his website and watching his TED Talks.

 I know it’s tough. But if pro-Israel nonprofits can adopt more concepts from the for-profit world…the ultimate entity profiting will be Israel.

—

This post was written by Hadas Sella. 

Hadas Sella is the Executive Director at the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Born and raised in Israel, Hadas has a dual degree in Law and Economics from the Tel Aviv University, and is a certified attorney in Israel. After working for a top-5 law firm in Jerusalem and then as a Tax Attorney at Ernst & Young in Tel Aviv, she moved to Los Angeles in 2012 and in June 2014 graduated from the UCLA Anderson MBA program. After graduation, Hadas was recruited to the Milstein Family Foundation as a Program Director. In her role, Hadas oversees the foundation's activities, donations, grants and operations.

To learn more about the philanthropic work of Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation, visit http://milsteinff.org. Also – check out Adam Milstein and the Milstein Family Foundation on Facebook!

See the original post on Times of Israel

This piece was co-written by Adam Milstein and Marc A. Greendorfer. A version of it previously appeared in the Huffington Post.

The Israeli people and the global pro-Israel community are waking up to the seriousness of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which has gained increasing traction at universities, academic associations, municipalities, churches, unions, pension funds, and investment portfolios in America and around the globe. Many are realizing that this Movement poses a serious threat to the Jewish state, the Jewish people, the American people and Western Civilization.

Yet, as we mobilize our effective response, it’s important to recognize that BDS is nothing new. Arab boycotts of Jewish interests in the British Mandate of Palestine started as early as 1922, more than twenty years before the establishment of a Jewish state in 1948. Restrictions were added in 1933, 1934 and 1936. An official, organized boycott of the Jewish community in Palestine, adopted by the Arab League in December 1945, persisted against Israel after it was founded, with the goal of isolating the Jewish state from the international community. Through the years, this boycott spread like a virus across the globe, resulting in institutionalized discrimination against Israeli goods and businesses. It is clear that those behind the BDS Movement have simply put old wine in a new bottle.

Furthermore, Arab anti-Israel and anti-American boycotts have been a part of life in the U.S. since the early 1970s – and past experience in fighting these anti-Semitic movements can, and should, guide our response in the present.

The effects of the Arab League Boycott in America were disruptive and outrageous, causing energy shortages, gas lines, rationing, economic stagflation and discrimination against Jewish Americans. The 1973 oil boycott alone cost the American economy billions of dollars, and turned American businesses and consumers into unwilling participants in an anti-Semitic campaign against Israel and the Jewish people.

In 1977, U.S. Congress voted overwhelmingly to approve legislation to protect American interests, making it a criminal offense to comply with the Arab League Boycott and imposing fines on American companies that did so. The U.S. Department of Commerce opened an office to oversee and implement the law, and many states followed the federal legislation with their own anti-boycott laws, which did help reduce the effects of the Arab League Boycott in the United States.

However, those behind the Arab League Boycott continued to search for opportunities to circumvent the law. In 2001, at the U.N.’s “Conference on Racism” held in Durban, South Africa, they found one, hijacking the conference’s agenda to force through a series of racist declarations attacking Israel. As the conference drew to a close, the Arab League met to formally call for a resumption of its boycott, which became the framework for what we know as the BDS Movement.

In truth, the latest boycott is even more dangerous than the original, as those behind BDS have learned from previous failures. BDS has effectively branded itself as a human rights movement, hiding its true intentions from the public –  the destruction of Israel, the demonization of the Jewish people and the erosion of the values essential to our Western Civilization –  and obscuring the role of the extremists, terrorists, and radicals behind the Movement.

The BDS Movement has effectively moved around the general language of existing American anti-boycott laws, claiming that these laws only apply to activities directly connected to the “Arab League Boycott” name. The pro-Israel community must reject this false dichotomy and vigilantly watch to make sure that federal, state, and local agencies are enforcing existing anti-boycott laws.

We must also enact new laws that specifically close any purported loopholes that BDS’ supporters exploit. This was recently accomplished at the U.S. federal level, when Representative Peter Roskam’s anti-BDS language was included in the Trade Promotion Authority passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. The American Congress may also consider anti-discrimination measures to combat the BDS Movement, as it promotes hatred and discrimination against Jewish Americans and other pro-Israel supporters, especially on college campuses.

BDS threatens a return to the same kind of economic and social turmoil that the Arab League Boycott created within the United States in the 1970s. We, as Americans, have to stop BDS in its tracks before the Movement gains any more traction. The future of Israel, America, Europe – and indeed, all of Western Civilization – is at stake.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American philanthropist, National Chairman of the Israeli-American Council, real estate entrepreneur, and President of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamMilstein and @AdamMilsteinIAC.

Follow Adam Milstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AdamMilstein

This piece was co-written by Adam Milstein and Marc A. Greendorfer.

In recent years, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement has gained increasing traction at universities, academic associations, municipalities, churches, unions, pension funds, and investment portfolios in America and around the globe. The pro-Israel community is now waking up to the seriousness of the danger that this movement poses to the Jewish state, the Jewish people, the American people and the U.S.

Yet, as we mobilize our community to action, it's important to recognize that BDS is nothing new. Those behind this campaign have simply put old wine in a new bottle. Anti-Israel and anti-American boycotts initiated in the Middle East have been a part of American life since the early 1970s – and past experience in fighting these anti-Semitic Movements should guide our response in the present.

Arab boycotts of Jewish interests in the Land of Israel started as early as 1922, more than two decades before the establishment of a Jewish state in 1948. Arabs who violated this boycott were physically attacked by their brethren. Increasingly restrictive boycotts were instituted in 1933, 1934 and 1936. An official organized boycott of the Jewish community in Palestine was adopted by the Arab League in December 1945, and persisted against Israel after its founding, with the goal of isolating the Jewish state from the international community. Through the years, this boycott spread like a virus across the globe, resulting in institutionalized discrimination against Israeli goods and businesses.

The effects of the Arab League boycott in America were as disruptive as they were outrageous, causing energy shortages, gas lines, rationing, economic stagflation and discrimination against Jewish Americans. The 1973 oil boycott by the Arab Middle East countries not only cost the American economy billions of dollars, it turned American businesses and consumers into unwilling participants in an anti-Semitic campaign to destroy Israel and demonize the Jewish people.

In 1977, U.S. Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation to protect American interests, making it a criminal offense to adhere to the Arab League boycott and imposing fines on American companies that were found to be complying with it. An office was opened in the U.S. Department of Commerce to conduct surveillance and implement the law. A large number of states followed the federal legislation with their own anti-boycott laws, which were generally successful in dramatically reducing the effects of the Arab League Boycott in the United States.

Those behind the Arab League's Boycott campaign continued to search for a way to circumvent anti-boycott laws. They found this avenue in 2001 at the UN's "Conference on Racism" held in Durban, South Africa, hijacking the conference's agenda to force through a series of racist declarations attacking Israel. At the conclusion of the conference, the Arab League met to formally call for a resumption of its boycott, which became the framework for the subsequent organization of the BDS Movement.

In many ways, the latest boycott is even more toxic than the original, as those behind BDS have learned the lessons of the Arab League's failures. BDS has effectively branded itself as a human rights movement, hiding from the public its true intentions – the destruction of Israel, the demonization of the Jewish people and the erosion of the values at the heart of America's way of life — and obscuring the role of extremists, terrorists, and radicals in driving its agenda.

The BDS Movement has effectively exploited the general language of existing anti-boycott laws, claiming that these laws only apply to activities directly connected to the Arab League boycott by name. The pro-Israel community must begin to draw the unmistakable connection between these two efforts, ensuring that Federal, State, and Local agencies are enforcing existing anti-boycott laws.

Yet, this is not enough. New laws should be enacted that specifically address BDS and close any purported loopholes that BDS supporters exploit. Recently, this was accomplished at the federal level, when Representative Peter Roskam's anti-BDS language was included in the Trade Promotion Authority passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. Congress may also consider utilizing anti-discrimination measures to combat the BDS movement, which promotes hatred and discrimination against Jewish Americans and other pro-Israel supporters, especially on college campuses.

We can also work at an organizational level to fight BDS. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union recently nullified a resolution adopted by a local UC chapter that endorsed BDS. The union explicitly dismissed BDS supporters' claims that it was a human rights movement, stating that "…despite semantical claims to the contrary, [BDS] can easily be construed as academic and cultural discrimination…" and the UAW deemed BDS support to be a program of "…discrimination and vilification against Israelis and UAW members who are of Jewish lineage…"

BDS threatens a return to the same kind of economic and social turmoil that the Arab League boycott created within the United States in the 1970s. We, as Americans, have to stop BDS in its tracks before it's too late. The future of Israel – and America – is at stake.

Adam Milstein is an Israeli-American philanthropist, National Chairman of the Israeli-American Council, real estate entrepreneur, and President of the Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation. Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamMilstein and @AdamMilsteinIAC.