Co-Hosts: International Leaders Summit and U.S. Congressman Mike Bost, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Report via The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) | (June 6, 2023 / JNS)
Some two-dozen politicians and diplomats, in addition to Jewish, business, media and other leaders, convened on June 5 at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill for the inaugural U.S.-Israel Leaders Summit marking Israel’s 75th anniversary.
Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) told the audience that the United States stands firmly with them, committed to ensuring Israel’s survival and success.
“Today, we are not just celebrating the State of Israel but also the enduring values that bind us,” he said. “A greater ally the United States could not have than Israel. … We are nations focusing on the same God.”
The summit, which drew six members of Congress on a Monday (typically a travel day for members), came three-and-a-half weeks after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hosted Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-Mich.) anti-Israel “Nakba Day” event, noted Natasha Srdoc, co-organizer of the event and founder of the International Leaders Summit.
“It was timely and relevant to set the record straight and to host the inaugural U.S.-Israel Leaders Summit, commemorating Israel’s 75th anniversary on Capitol Hill and strengthening America’s partnership with Israel,” Srdoc told JNS.
The event also included a screening—the Capitol Hill premiere—of the documentary “Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin.”
Begin was a “courageous and pioneering leader who forged peace in the region,” Srdoc said. “It reminds us all about how his principled work helped pave the way for Arab leaders to begin dialogue with Israel and led to the signing of the Abraham Accords.”
Stuart Weinblatt, senior rabbi of the “modern Conservative” synagogue B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Md., was another speaker at the event. He called the relationship between Jews and Israel “the greatest love story.”
“It’s a story of a people who were promised a parcel of land for eternity, and have believed in that promise and remained faithful to it throughout the ages,” he said at the summit. “While they lived there, they nurtured it, and it, in turn, nurtured them.”
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) stressed the importance—more than ever—that economics plays in the U.S.-Israel relationship, which he said is critical not only to peace in the Middle East but around the world. He cited the significance of the supply chain and sharing technologies, including missile systems.
Brussels | Washington, DC — July 3, 2023 | The International Leaders Summit led by co-founders Natasha Srdoc and Joel Anand Samy in partnership with Chairman Manfred Weber and Chairman Mike Bost co-hosted the inaugural American-Eurppean Leaders Summit at the European Parliament on June 27, 2023. The bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation led by Congressman Mike Bost, chairman, U.S. House Veterans Affairs’ Committee (HVAC) included five members of Congress who traveled to the European continent.
The event's organizing body consisted of leadership board members of International Leaders Summit including Natasha Srdoc, Joel Anand Samy, Dr. Paul Rübig, Tracy Bost and other distinguished members.
European Leadership
The European leadership participating in the strategic summit meeting included Manfred Weber, chairman, Group of the European People's Party and president of the European People's Party; David McAllister, chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs and member, Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, substitute, Committee on International Trade and Delegation for relations with the United States; Radosław Sikorski , chair, Delegation for relations with the United States, member, Committee on Foreign Affairs and member, Subcommittee on Security and Defense and Rasa Juknevičiene, vice-chair, subcommittee on Security and Defense and former Minister of Defense of Lithuania (2008 to 2012).
American Leadership
The US Congressional delegation included Marine Corps veteran Mike Bost, chairman, Veterans' Affairs Committee and member of Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and Agriculture Committee; Mark Takano, ranking member of HVAC and member, House Education and the Workforce Committee; Scott Franklin, member, House Appropriations Committee, member, HVAC and House Science, Space and Technology Committee; Mariannettee Miller-Meeks, member the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, member, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, where she serves as chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health; Derrick Van Orden and High Chief Uifa'atali Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, vice chairman, House Veterans Affairs Committee, member, House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chairman of the Indo-Pacific Task Force and Derrick Van Orden, member, the House Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
