On Thursday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m., the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern New Jersey will host Dr. Eric Mandel, founder and Director of MEPIN (the Middle East Political Information Network, a private Middle East research and analysis organization), for a discussion on Israel’s Challenges for 2022: A Pivotal Year for Decisions over Zoom. The conversation will include current topics such as the Iran negotiations, the War in the North (the new Iranian border), and how Ukraine plays into the Middle East. Registration for the upcoming event with Dr. Eric Mandel is at www.jcrcsnj.org/mandel.
Mandel regularly briefs members of the United States Congress about the ever-changing geopolitical situations in the Middle East. He is also the Senior Security Editor of the Jerusalem Report biweekly news magazine and regularly writes op eds for the Jerusalem Post. He also writes for many other publications including a recent article in the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle in which he discusses how anti-Zionism equates to antisemitism and why this is an important dialogue in our undergraduate schools, colleges and universities here and abroad.
The event with Mandel culminates a year-long project for the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern New Jersey (JCRC of SNJ). In January 2021, the JCRC of SNJ board created an ad hoc committee to address the possibility of a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. Considering both the transition to a new President of the United States and the fourth election in Israel within a two-year period, concerns about Iran were amplified, making it clear that any potential deal with Iran would be of paramount importance to their community.
The JCRC of SNJ board thought it prudent to prepare itself and its agency for possible position-taking and associated advocacy efforts that may be needed. To that end, the primary task for the Ad Hoc Committee was to create a briefing document that could serve as an educational resource for the broader South Jersey audience with an abbreviated time-line of events leading up to and following the adoption of the JCPOA, not meaning to make any statement, judgment, or recommendation regarding the JCPOA or any future deals with Iran, nor was it or is it meant to offer a prospective commentary from the JCRC of Southern NJ on any related policies which may emerge in the future. You may read the Ad Hoc Committee paper in its entirety by going to https://www.jcrcsnj.org/resources and clicking on the blue “JCRC Ad Hoc Committee – JCPOA” button!
Registration for the upcoming free JCRC of Southern NJ Zoom event with Dr. Eric Mandel is at www.jcrcsnj.org/mandel. For any questions, please contact Sabrina Spector, JCRC of Southern NJ Associate Director, at [email protected] or call 856-673-2511
