After roughly a week of campaigning for a tougher U.S. response to rising global anti-Semitism, billionaire Ronald Lauder was preparing for his final public speech in D.C. on Wednesday — a lecture later that night atGeorgetown University centered on how Jews and Christians should come together against radical Islamic groups.
It’s been a busy trip: On Tuesday, Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, testified before a House of Representatives subcommittee on the surge in attacks against Jews in Europe, and his schedule has been dotted with other high-profile meetings with top Senate officials, Russian diplomats and Vice President Joe Biden.
As he sat in a meeting room at the ritzy Willard Intercontinental Hotel, just a few blocks from the White House, he seemed energized by a week spent rallying Congressmen to support Israel — and pushing them to attempt shutting down any nuclear deal with Iran that he would find unfavorable for the Jewish communities he lobbies for from about 100 countries.
Lauder has focused on diplomacy for decades and was the U.S. Ambassador to Austriafrom 1986 to 1987. But his estimated $3.9 billion fortune comes largely from a stake in the Estee Lauder cosmetics conglomerate his mother founded. Sensing a market research opportunity, he was quick to ask me if I use a top coat after doing my nails, and what I think of M.A.C., an Estee Lauder brand. I sat down with him in the midst of his D.C. tour to talk about running to bomb shelters in Israel, breaking the ice with then-president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez and the progress of his campaign to return art stolen by the Nazis to the rightful owners’ descendants. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
During your testimony in front of Congress, you asked “Where is the United States?” That’s a big question. What would you want to see the U.S. government actually do?
(Much more to this excellent interview, continues HERE )
No comments:
Post a Comment