On April 4, 2024, the Network of enlightened Women hosted the Spring Capitol Hill Intern Summit in Washington, DC. During this program, 57 Capitol Hill interns and staffers had the opportunity to network with like-minded women and hear from successful female leaders in the network.
Ellie Cohanim, Senior Fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, host of “Global Perspectives with Ellie Cohanim” for Jewish News Syndicate, and former U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the U.S. Department of State, spoke about the issues currently going on in the Middle East and takeaway points.
During her discussion, Cohanim focused largely on the terror attacks on Israel and touched on her own experience as a child refugee coming to the United States when her family fled antisemitism in Iran in the 1970s.
During the discussion, Cohanim compared the efforts of the Trump Administration (2016-2020) and the current Biden Administration on foreign affairs. Cohanim argued that the Trump Administration successfully contained Irani threat by using sanctions and partnerships, known as the Abraham Accords, with Gulf-Arab Allies. The Abraham Accords were signed in September of 2020. Cohanim then compared this to the Biden Administration de-listing the Iranian-backed Houthis from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT) lists in 2021. In 2024, the Administration has re-listed the Houthis on the SDGT list, but not the FTO list.
Cohanim wrapped up her discussion by making the case for the United States to stand with Israel and strongly advocate that Hamas release the Israeli hostages. Religious Freedom is a core foundation of the United States and we should want to protect that for our allies. Cohanim made the case that Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism.
When asked what the audience could do as college students and interns, Cohanim said, “Use your leadership skills and try to push back on this. See if can help organization counter demonstrations or a day of prayer with Jewish student groups.”
This blog was written by Kirsten Golinski, NeW Development Manager.
