Omri Attar
Chief Operations Officer ELNET-Israel
Omri Attar acted as Chief of International Staff at ELNET in 2015-16. He is the founder of the Europe Forum, a leading thinking group of organizations based in Europe and Israel. He has a broad background in project management within non-profit organizations and NGOs. He holds an MA in Knowledge-based Policy, Educational, Social and Public Leadership, a BA in Government, Diplomacy and Strategy, and a Certificate of Third-Sector Management Studies, as well as additional Certification of Negotiation Studies from Harvard Law School.
Dr. Matthias J. Becker
Project Lead „Decoding Antisemitism“
Matthias is a linguist, with a strong focus on pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, critical discourse analysis, research on prejudice, and social media studies.
A consistent link between all his research activities is the question of how implicit hate speech is constructed and what conditions its production is subject to. Since 2020, he is the Lead of “Decoding Antisemitism,” a transnational and interdisciplinary research project analysing the content, structure and frequency of antisemitism in politically moderate online spaces.
Daniel Berke
Director of UK Lawyers for Israel
Daniel is a lawyer specialising in criminal and regulatory law.
He is a director of UK Lawyers for Israel, an organisation of British lawyers who use the law to fight delegitimization and unfair attacks on Israel. Of particular importance to Daniel is his work advising students who have been discriminated against because of their Jewish faith and Zionist beliefs.
Daniel is a member of the Jewish Diplomatic Corps of the World Jewish Congress.
He is a trustee of Free From Fear, a charity which, has rescued over 3,000 Afghans who supported the coalition and so were targeted by the Taliban.
Ruth Cohen-Dar
Director of Department for combating
Antisemitism at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Co-head Israeli Delegation to IHRA
Ruth Cohen-Dar served in the Israel Defense Forces for 3 years as an officer, after she volunteered for one year as a community worker in a rural community in the Negev.
Ruth Cohen-Dar holds a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Since 1986 she works for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On her last posting abroad she served as Deputy Ambassador in Poland.
Since 2020 Ruth Cohen-Dar serves as Director of the Department for Combating Antisemitism and Holocaust Remembrance, as well as the Co-Chair of Israel's delegation to the IHRA.
Dr. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias
Member of the Board of Governors of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists
Dr. Aleksandra Gliszczyńska-Grabias is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences and member of the Board of Governors of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists. She specializes in legal tools of fighting antisemitism. She held numerous fellowships, including at the University of Cambridge, Yale University and the European University Institute. Apart from her academic and expert work, she co-leads the Public Interest Strategic Litigation Program at Dentons Global Law Firm, Polish branch.
Michał Kamiński
Deputy Senate Marshal of the Republic of Poland
Michał Kamiński was member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in 1997-2004 and 2015-2019. In between he worked as a member of the European Parliament 2004-2014. He was Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland as well as Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. Moreover, he was chairman of the Conservatives and Reformists Group in the European Parliament and head of the Program Council of the Center for Public Diplomacy. Since 2019 Kamiński is Deputy Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland.
Philip Krämer
Member of the German Bundestag
Philip Krämer graduated in 2022 in philosophy and sociology. From May 2019 to November 2021, Philip Krämer has been the Chairman of the Green Party of the State of Hesse. Since September 2021 he is Member of the Bundestag. As a Member of Parliament, Krämer is Deputy Chairman of the Sports Committee and member of the Defense Committee. Additionally, the MP is member of the Enquete-Commission "Lehren aus Afghanistan für das künftige vernetzte Engagement Deutschlands" (Lessons from Afghanistan for Germany's future interlaced international engagements).
Carsten Ovens
Executive Director ELNET-Germany
Carsten Ovens is the Executive Director of ELNET Germany since March 2019. With almost two decades of experience in politics i.a. as a Member of the Hamburg State Parliament, he devoted his work to the German-Israeli relations with a focus on innovation and startups for many years. Beforehand, Carsten worked in business development and management consulting throughout Europe, as a lecturer on marketing and communications at several leading universities, and as a researcher on social media communication effects on politics and society
Joan Ryan
Executive Director ELNET-UK
Following a successful career as a local councillor, Joan Ryan was elected as a UK Member of Parliament in 1997. In 2002 Joan Ryan was promoted to Government Whip followed by a promotion to become the Home Office Minister responsible for Immigration and Police Improvement. In 2007 she was appointed as Special Representative to Cyprus by the Prime Minister and appointed to the Privy Council by Her Majesty the Queen. In 2015 Joan Ryan was appointed as Chair for the Labour Friends of Israel and in 2016 she was appointed by the Speaker to the House of Commons Speaker’s Panel.
Yannick Shetty
Member of the Austrian Parliament
Yannick Shetty was born in Innsbruck, Austria in 1995, where he grew up. After graduating high school he moved to Vienna to begin his law studies. He joined the liberal party NEOS and held various positions within the party. In 2019, he became the youngest member of the Austrian National Council as an elected representative. Currently he is focusing on advocating for a brighter future for the young generation, promoting equal opportunities, integration policies and LGBTIQ rights.
Emily Austin
Reporter and Israeli mission to the UN
Emily Austin is an American TV personality. She began interviewing NBA players and athletes at 18. Since then, she has interviewed 100s of people from sports, entertainment, politics & more.
She is a huge advocate against antisemitism while also being publicly vocal about her support for Israel. She’s been featured on JPost, I24, Newsmax and many more outlets. She also speaks to large groups and audiences with organizations such as JNF, IAC, WJC, ICC and more, sharing her experiences on being Jewish in the entertainment world.
Bettina Benatar Lütgerath
Co-founder of „Akzeptanz” - a project against Antisemitism and
Islamophobia
Bettina Lütgerath was born and raised in Los Angeles to a German Protestant mother and a Sephardic Jewish father.
She studied law in Göttingen and Freiburg and worked as a lawyer in the area of social law.
While raising her four sons she experienced the opportunities to sensitize youth to topics close to her heart, particularly the fight against antisemitism and discrimination based upon religious affiliation.
Due to this motivation, she co-founded the project “Akzeptanz” to facilitate moderated dialogs in schools between school-aged youth and religious “tandems” of Jewish and Muslim faith.
Prof. Awi Blumenfeld
Claims Conference
Prof. Awi Blumenfeld is the son of two survivors of the Shoah. After studying in Munich and Vienna, he taught and did research at the Joseph Carlebach Institute for Jewish Teachings of the Bar Ilan University.
Prof. Blumenfeld is constant advisor of the Jewish Communities in Vienna, Duisburg and other Jewish Communities in Europe and the US.
He helped in developing LIKRAT and initiated its start in Austria.
Since 2022 Prof. Blumenfeld is Director for Shoa-education, relevance and fight against antisemitism of the Claims Conference.
Avi Cohen Scali
Director General Ministry for Diaspora and
Combating Antisemitism
Since February 2023 Avi Cohen Scali is Director General of the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism. Before he worked as Director General of the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage and Trust from July 2020 to August 2021.
From 2015 to 2020 he has been Director General of the Ministry for Social Equality and was overseeing the following areas for the Israeli government: young people (including establishment of the Youth Authority), women, independent senior citizens, socio-economic development in the Arab society, and management of the national Digital Israel project.
Jakob Guhl
Senior Manager Policy & Research
Institute for Strategic Dialogue
London
Jakob Guhl is a Senior Manager, Policy & Research, at ISD, where he works within the Digital Research Unit and with ISD Germany. His research focuses on the far-right, Islamist extremism, hate speech, disinformation and conspiracy theories. Jakob has published digital analysis of Holocaust denial, antisemitic online subcultures and antisemitism on the left.
Dr. Felix Klein
Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish life in Germany and the fight against Antisemitism
Dr. Felix Klein has been the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish life in Germany and the fight against Antisemitism since May 2018.
Dr. Klein, born 1968 in Darmstadt, joined the Foreign Service in 1994 after studying law in Freiburg and London. After several domestic assignments and foreign posts in Cameroon and Italy, he was Special Representative for Relations with Jewish Organisations and Antisemitism Issues at the Federal Foreign Office from March 2014 to April 2018.
Dr. Klein is an active violinist and member of the Diplomatic String Quartet Berlin.
Marta Kubica
Executive Director ELNET-Poland
Marta Kubica is the Executive Director of the Warsaw office of the European Leadership Network (ELNET), where she fosters diplomatic relationships between Israel and CEE countries.
Marta is currently focused on developing diplomatic initiatives that promote Israel’s innovative solutions in the field of crisis management, with the goal of aiding Ukrainian refugees and building community resilience in Central & Eastern Europe.
Benno Plassmann
Co-director Institut for New Social Sculpture
Benno is a theatre director, historian and former public arts administrator at Berlin's regional government. He is now one of the directors of the arts organisation Institut für Neue Soziale Plastik. The NGO brings together artists and project managers with a long-term experience in contrasting antisemitism in arts and culture. Currently, they are promoting the networking project Reclaim Kunstfreiheit, with support of the Federal Government Commissioner, Dr. Felix Klein, and the Central Council of Jews in Germany.
Katharina von Schnurbein
European Commission Coordinator
on combating Antisemitism and
fostering Jewish life
Katharina von Schnurbein was appointed European Commission Coordinator on combating Antisemitism and fostering Jewish life in 2015. Prior, she worked for five years as part of the advisory team to the European Commission President, responsible for the dialogue with churches, religions and non-confessional organisations as well as civil society organisations and think tanks in Germany.
After her studies she worked for the Chairman of the European Affairs Committee at the German Bundestag.
She started working for the European Commission in 2002 as Press Officer for the EU Delegation in Prague.
Kim Robin Stoller
Chair, International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (iibsa)
Kim Robin Stoller is Co-founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA). Kim is a Board Member and former Co-coordinator of the European Sociological Association's Ethnic Relations, Racism and Antisemitism Research Network.
Kim is Co-author of the "Handbook on the Practical Application of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism", commissioned by the European Commission and published in cooperation with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Volker Beck
CEO Tikvah Institut gUG and President of the German-Israeli Association
Volker Beck is associated lecturer at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES) of the Ruhr University Bochum and CEO of the Tikvah Institute gUG. The German-Israeli Society (DIG) e.V. elected him as its president in 2022. Previously, he was a member of the German Bundestag for 23 years and chairman of its German-Israeli Parliamentary Group until 2017.
Volker Beck has received various awards for his work, including the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon from the hand of German President Johannes Rau, the Leo Baeck Prize, awarded by the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Golden Klust Pin.
Dr. Arié Bensemhoun
Executive Director ELNET-France
Dr. Arié Bensemhoun has been the Chief Executive Officer of ELNET-France since 2011. He is dentist by profession and made his career in the private sector as a consultant in communications, PR and international relations dealing with Middle East and strategic affairs. Dr. Bensemhoun plays a crucial role in the French-Israeli relationship through his commitment both at the community and political levels.
Prof. Alfred Bodenheimer
Chair Jewish Studies University of Basel and Founder of Likrat
Alfred Bodenheimer was born 1965 in Basel, where he grew up in a modern orthodox Jewish home. He studied Yeshiva Studies in the US and Israel.
Since 2003 he works as Professor for Jewish History of Religion and Literature at the University of Basel. He published numerous books and articles on questions of German-Jewish Literature, Jewish narratives and tradition, the question of circumcision in secular states as well as seven criminal novels. In 2002 he founded the youth dialogue project Likrat Switzerland, which became the trigger for Likrat also in Germany and other countries.
Elise Fajgeles
Former MP, Secretary General DILCRAH
Elise Fajgeles trained as a lawyer and practiced as a jurist within the French Ministry of Culture. From 2007 to 2018, she was Deputy Mayor in the 10th “arrondissement” (district) of Paris. She then became an MP for the period running from 2017 to 2019. In this context, she chaired the French-Israeli parliamentary friendship group, and held the position of Secretary within the study group on antisemitism. In 2019, Elise joined the Interministerial Delegation for the fight against racism, antisemitism, and hatred against LGBT-people (DILCRAH), where she still works as Secretary General.
Eren Güvercin
Journalist and Co-founder of the
Alhambra-Society
Eren Güvercin studied law in Bonn and worked for many years as a freelance journalist for various media. He is Co-Founder of the Alhambra Society (www.alhambra-gesellschaft.de), an association of German Muslims. He is also the chairman of the Liberal Diversity in Berlin-Brandenburg (www.liberalevielfalt.de).
Sigmount A. Königsberg
Coordinator for the fight against Antisemitism, Jewish Community of Berlin
Sigmount A. Königsberg, born in 1960, studied communication science, history and political science in Berlin. He is the Berlin Jewish Community Commissioner against Antisemitism. Primarily, he is as a contact person for people who see themselves exposed to antisemitism. Furthermore, he cooperates with authorities, organizations and networks to achieve increased awareness in society. He locates antisemitism among right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists, Islamists and in mainstream society. He emphasizes that antisemitism starts with small things and is an everyday experience for Jews.
Kerstin Müller
Former German Federal Minister of State and Member of the ELNET-Germany Advisory Board
Kerstin Müller is a Senior Associate Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). Previously, she held various political positions, including Chair of the Green parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry and Foreign Policy Spokesperson for the Greens in the Bundestag. After her career in German politics, she headed the office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Israel.
Dr. Robert Reuven-Rozett
Senior Historian in the International
Institute for Holocaust Research Yad Vashem
Dr. Robert Rozett is Senior Historian in the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem. Prior to this, for 25 years beginning late in 1992, he was director of the Yad Vashem Libraries, and has been at Yad Vashem since 1981 in various capacities.
He obtained his BA from Rutgers College, Rutgers University (1978) and received his MA (1981) and PhD (1987) from the Hebrew University, where he studied with Yehuda Bauer. His dissertation was about Jewish Rescue and Revolt in Slovakia and Hungary.
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter
Parliamentary State Secretary,
Federal Ministry of the Interior
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter was born in 1962 in Waldshut. She started her professional career as a marketing assistant and in consultancy. From 2005 to 2009 and since 2010 she has been a member of the Bundestag.
From 2013 to 2021 Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter worked as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Security. In 2021 she became Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Dr. Ofer Waldmann
Journalist and Author
Born in Jerusalem, Ofer Waldman moved to Berlin in 1999 as a member of the "West-Eastern Divan" Orchestra. He then graduated from the University of Arts in Berlin. Since 2015, he works as freelance author for German and Israeli media, especially for Deutschlandfunk Kultur, where he regularly contributes to Israel and the Israel-related debate in Germany. Between 2016-2019, he chaired the Board of the New Israel Fund Germany and has since been a member of the International Council of the New Israel Fund, which is one of the most important supporters of Israel's democratic civil society.
Weitere Informationen zu
Actions Matter – The International Antisemitism Summit