Danny Yatom to headline J Street rally at UCSD

Danny Yatom (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Danny Yatom
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

LA JOLLA, California  (Press Release)—With reports that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry plans to put a much-awaited memorandum of understanding between Israelis and Palestinians on the table in the coming weeks, Israeli security expert Ret. Israeli General Danny Yatom plans to rally hundreds of pro-Israel activists from San Diego behind US-led efforts to reach a two-state resolution, one of a series of nationwide “town hall” meetings organized by J Street.

Yatom, who was director for the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service (Mossad) from 1996 to 1998, was involved in key negotiations with Jordan, Syria and the Palestinians between 1993 through 2001. At the San Diego town hall event he will call on the majority of American Jews who support a two-state agreement to make their voices heard. An audience question-and-answer session will follow

The event, scheduled at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the Malamud Room of the Institute of the Americas on the UCSD campus,  is free and open to the public.

Following his retirement from the IDF, Yatom was chief of staff to Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He is also a former Member of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), where he represented the Labor party for more than five years. Today, Yatom serves as the co-Chairman and CEO of Global Strategic Group Ltd. He holds degrees in mathematics, physics and computer science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.Yatom now serves as the co-Chairman and CEO of Global Strategic Group Ltd.

San Diego is one of more than ten cities across the country hosting town halls this spring as part of J Street’s 2 Campaign (http://2campaign.org).  The campaign, launched in September 2013, gives voice to the growing number of pro-Israel Americans who understand the difficult choices required to achieve a two-state solution and who will stand behind US leaders who do what it takes to reach an agreement.

J Street launched the million-dollar national campaign at its national conference last fall. The town hall meetings will be backed up by an advertising campaign and educational activities to inform and mobilize support.

Polls consistently show that Jewish and non-Jewish Americans strongly support both a two-state solution and US diplomatic leadership to achieve it. A survey conducted by J Street in November 2012 found that 81 percent of American Jews believe both that a two-state solution is necessary to strengthen Israel’s security and ensure its Jewish democratic character, and that it is an important national security interest for the United States .

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Preceding provided by J Street