WASHINGTON (JTA) — An influential liberal Washington think tank with ties to the Obama administration is partnering with a progressive Israeli counterpart.
The Center for American Progress is cosponsoring its first Israel event on April 1 with Molad: The Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy. The symposium will address Israeli and U.S. interests in the Middle East.
Speakers include Yitzhak Herzog, the Labor Party leader who is the leader of the Israeli opposition; and Stav Shaffir, a Labor member of Knesset who helped launch the movement for affordable housing in Israel in 2011.
Matt Duss, a Center for American Progress policy analyst helping to organize the event, said Molad “captures a lot of progressive objectives and goals we share on social justice, gender equality, similar views on foreign policy.”
The Center for American Progress, or CAP, founded by John Podesta, who is now a senior adviser to President Obama, has launched similar collaborations with liberal groups in Turkey, Germany and France.
It has taken positions sharply critical of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but has also maintained ties with pro-Israel groups.
