Intense fact-finding trips for New York public officials, opinion makers and ethnic and religious leaders

Recent Missions

February 2010 - NYC Council Mission

• New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn: 3rd District, Manhattan
• Councilmember Gale A. Brewer: 6th District, Manhattan
• Councilmember Fernando Cabrera: 14th District, the Bronx
• Councilmember Inez Dickens: 9th District, Manhattan
• Councilmember Daniel Dromm: 25th District, Queens
• Councilmember Dr. Mathieu Eugene: 40th District, Brooklyn
• Councilmember Julissa Ferreras: 21st District, Queens
• Councilmember Sara M. Gonzalez: 38th District, Brooklyn
• Councilmember Karen Koslowitz: 29th District, Queens
• Councilmember Jessica S. Lappin: 5th District, Manhattan
• Councilmember Diana Reyna: 34th District, Brooklyn
• Councilmember James Sanders, Jr.: 31st District, Queens
• Councilmember Eric Ulrich: 32nd District, Queens
• Councilmember James Van Bramer: 26th District, Queens
• Councilmember Thomas White, Jr.: 28th District, Queens
• Mr. Jeffrey S. Rodus, First Deputy Director, NYC Council, Finance Division
• Meghan E. Linehan, Special Asst. to NYC Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn
  
  

January 2010 - Congressional Chiefs of Staff Mission

• Luke Burke, Professional Staff, House Homeland Security Committee to Ranking member Rep. Peter King (NY-R-3 – Long Island)
• Lars Hydle, Legislative Counsel/Director to Rep. Edolphus Towns (NY-D-10 - Brooklyn)
• Patrick Hyland, District Director to Rep. Michael McMahon (NY-D-13- Staten Island)
• Mark Lee, Foreign Affairs Staff to Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY-D-11 - Brooklyn)
• Jedd Moskowitz, Chief of Staff to Rep. Gary Ackerman, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East (NY-D-5 – Long Island)
• Jennifer Pastrich, Israel Relations Outreach Coordinator to Rep. Steve Israel, Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee (NY-D—2- Long Island)
• Joe Racalto, Chief of Staff to Rep. Eric Massa (NY-D-29 – Corning)
• Marie Ternes, Chief of Staff to Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY-D-9 – Queens) 
• John Calvelli, former Chief of Staff to Rep. Eliot Engel; Dean Emeritus, NY Congressional Chiefs of Staff; Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Wildlife Conservation Society

Typical Mission Activities  - Outline of February 2010 Mission

• Day One ½:  Leave NYC 9PM and Arrive Next Evening 5:00PM
  Dinner with briefing on current affairs with Aluf Benn, Edito-at-Large, Haaretz

• Day Two:  7:30AM – 9:00PM
• Depart hotel - Charter flight to Rosh Pina in northern Israel
• Visit Mt. of Beatitudes site of the Sermon on the Mount
• Mizpe Gadot- on the Golan Heights overlooking the Hula Valley
• Meet residents of the Golan over lunch
• Look into Lebanon and Syria from Mt. Ben Tal observation post
• Walking tour of the Old City Safed
• Dinner at Bar El residence in Safed

• Day Three: 8:30AM – 11:00PM
• Bus tour with Colonel Danny Tirza, Senior Adviser, to Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Meet at Foreign Ministry with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon
• Lunch meeting with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and
  Deputy Mayor for Building & Planning Naomi Tzur and senior officials
• Tour Old City of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy sites
• Dinner at King David Hotel & then Dessert with Member of Knesset, Einat Wilf
• Tour Western Wall Tunnels

• Day Four ½ : 8:30AM – 10:00 PM and Flight Back to NYC Arriving 6:00AM Next Day
• Session with Uri Sharf, Director of the Jerusalem Business Center
• Tour of settlements including Mizpe Jericho, Maale Adumim
• Meet with scholar, philosopher and settler, Micah Goodman
• Jerusalem lunch meeting with Minister of Education, Gideon Sa’ar
• Meet with delegation from the IDF Medical team recently back from Haiti
• Meet with Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Yaalon
• Tour Yad Vashem – National Holocaust Museum and Memorial
• Mevasseret Tzion Absorption Center - learn about absorption of immigrants from Ethiopia
• Visit Better Place electric vehicle demonstration center in Ramat HaSharon
• Cocktail Reception at Gay Center in Tel Aviv with Director
• Closing dinner
• 10:00 pm - Ben Gurion Airport for check-in flight back to NYC