By Jessica Davis , JTNews Correspondent
“This is a new passage, perhaps a turning point,” said Eran Lerman, the new director of the American Jewish Committee’s Israel/Middle East office, about the current state of Israel, when he visited Seattle on Feb. 4—5.
While touring the United States, Lerman stopped in Seattle to speak with groups of all ages, from The Summit to the University of Washington’s Hillel, about the current situation in Israel. His main educational mission was to talk about Israel, while carrying back his impressions of America to Israel. He said he was struck by how many students at Hillel had Israeli backgrounds. He found the Seattle area to have a close-knit Jewish community that works together.
“It struck me as being very, very distinct,” he said. “I’m impressed by the spirit of the place.”
Just as life seems to go on in Seattle, “Life goes on in Israel,” said Lerman.
“In essence, two countries are in the same war,” said Lerman. “It’s much better to have the U.S. in your corner than the other way around.”
He remains an optimist about peace in the Middle East. He said that he thinks the Middle East is going to become a different place, probably easier.
“I have a sense that this is going to turn around again,” he said.
Lerman sees himself as an unofficial but informed Israeli voice. “I’m a bit more at liberty to share my ideas with the American media,” he said.
During his current tour, Lerman also has visited Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and New York. This was his first time visiting AJC chapters other than his visits to New York and Washington, D.C. He plans to travel around the U.S. two to three times every year. The AJC’s national office will determine what cities he goes to next.
“I suppose this will be part of my life from now on,” he said.
Lerman came to the AJC after a distinguished career in the Israel Defense Forces, where he spent several years in the Directorate of Military Intelligence Research and Production Division, rising to the rank of Colonel and holding the position of assistant for strategic analysis. He also served as a member of the Israeli delegation to the Arab-Israeli peace talks in the years 1992—1995, working on issues of arms control and regional security.
A third-generation Israeli, Lerman honed his leadership skills at Harvard University, where he earned a mid-career degree in public administration at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government as a Wexner Fellow. Prior to his stretch as an analyst, Lerman earned a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics at the age of 25. He holds a B.A. in modern Middle Eastern history and general history from Tel Aviv University.
He unofficially started his new position with the AJC on Nov. 1, while he was on retirement leave from his last job, and formally starts his job on March 31.
“I don’t think I’ve had a boring meeting yet,” Lerman said about his new position.
Lerman toured the United States to educate himself and the Israeli public about American Jewry and various Jewish communities in the U.S. He said that he found Israel and the U.S. to be like cousins, with roughly equal populations as two large Jewish centers.
“I consider myself as basically a maintenance man,” he said. “I learn that people are worried.”
Along his tour of the U.S., Lerman said he learned that Americans seem to care and respond to what is going on in the Middle East and that each community is unique.
“Each [community] has its own color, its own identity. It’s fascinating to watch,” he said.
American attitudes are not unlike that of many Israelis, he said. They are getting to be more alike in some ways, especially with the terrorist attack on Sept.11. He said that after Sept. 11, American government officials and members of the press seemed to have a deeper understanding of what was happening in the Middle East. Lerman was driving into Manhattan on the day of the terrorist attack, to meet with members of the AJC, and he could see the towers smoking. Everyone tried to go on with business matters while they frantically tried to call home, said Lerman.
Lerman said his recent American tour had a positive effect on him. He found it encouraging that he met more former Israelis involved with the community than he expected.
“I think we have good answers in both directions,” he said.
Lerman said he enjoyed his visit to Seattle and would like to return in the future with his family.
“It’s a great place for kids, particularly when you have a 15-year-old who keeps talking about Kurt Cobain,” he said.