The Sheldon Wolfe Memorial Lecture at Congregation Sherith Israel:
A Conversation with Daniel Sokatch and Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha    

Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7:15 pm; reception at 6:45 pm

Presented by Congregation Sherith Israel in partnership with New Israel Fund

We’re honored to welcome back NIF CEO Daniel Sokatch, together with NIF Board Member and Harvard Kennedy School Fellow Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha this November.  

Dr. Abu Fraiha is a physician with a specialty in internal medicine, a humanist and self-described global citizen who upholds compassion for every human being. As a Palestinian Bedouin doctor in Israel, she was a first responder treating incoming victims of Hamas’ brutal attacks on October 7th. Throughout this traumatic period in her life, she refused to surrender her sorrow or concern for all innocent victims of violence. Dr. Abu Fraiha is a physician, health policy expert, and activist who possesses a boundless capacity for kindness and service.

Please join us to hear Dr. Abu Fraiha’s remarkable story as she discusses the current situation with Daniel Sokatch.  Registration required below. Event co-sponsored by The Kitchen Shared Society Project

Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha is currently completing a clinical fellowship in critical care medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston as well as a fellowship at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. She formerly served as the Health Policy Director at the Task Force for Health Promotion and Equity in the Arab Society at the Israeli Ministry of Health, leading major efforts and interventions to deal with health disparities between Jews and Arabs in Israel. In 2019 she co-founded Yanabia, an organization that promotes socio-economic development of the Bedouin community in Israel, while focusing on health, education, women’s employment, housing and community empowerment. In 2023, she was named one of Israel’s 50 most influential women by Globes Magazine and serves on the board of the New Israel Fund. Yasmeen holds a B.S. and M.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.

Daniel Sokatch has served as the CEO of the New Israel Fund since 2009. Before joining NIF, Daniel served as the CEO of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Prior to his tenure at the Federation, he was founding Executive Director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance (now Bend the Arc). In recognition of his leadership, Daniel has been named multiple times to the Forward newspaper’s “Forward 50,” an annual list of the fifty leading Jewish decision-makers and opinion-shapers. He has contributed articles to leading newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Forward and Haaretz, and is the author of the book, Can We Talk About Israel: A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted (Bloomsbury, 2021). Daniel holds an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a BA from Brandeis University. He is married, is father to two daughters, and resides in San Francisco.

ABOUT NIF:

The New Israel Fund is the leading organization advancing and defending democracy in Israel. Widely credited with building Israeli progressive civil society, NIF has provided over $300 million to more than 900 organizations since its inception in 1979. Learn more about NIF at www.nif.org