Trump and Middle East Peace Process Discussed

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt Daniel Kurtzer will present the Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute spring lecture May 7.
Former U.S. Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer, the S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University, will present “The Ultimate Deal or the End of the Line? The Trump Administration and the Middle East Peace Process” at the University’s Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute lecture on Tuesday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of the Brennan Hall.
Former U.S. Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer, the S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University, will present “The Ultimate Deal or the End of the Line? The Trump Administration and the Middle East Peace Process” at the University’s Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute lecture on Tuesday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of the Brennan Hall.

Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer, the S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, will present “The Ultimate Deal or the End of the Line? The Trump Administration and the Middle East Peace Process” at The University of Scranton’s Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute lecture on Tuesday, May 7. The lecture, which is free of charge and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of the Brennan Hall.

Following a 29-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Kurtzer retired in 2005 with the rank of Career-Minister. From 2001-2005 he served as the United States Ambassador to Israel and from 1997-2001 as the United States Ambassador to Egypt. Throughout his career, Ambassador Kurtzer was instrumental in formulating and executing U.S. policy toward the Middle East peace process. He remains active in Track II diplomacy related to the Middle East. He was appointed by Secretary of State John Kerry to serve on the Secretary’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board. Governor Chris Christie has appointed him to serve on the New Jersey-Israel State Commission.

Ambassador Kurtzer served as a political officer at the American embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv, deputy director of the Office of Egyptian Affairs, speechwriter on the Policy Planning Staff, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and principal deputy assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research. Previously, he served as an advisor to the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, and as a member of the Advisory Council of the American Bar Association’s Middle East Rule of Law Initiative. In 2007, he was named as the first commissioner of the professional Israel Baseball League.

Ambassador Kurtzer is the co-author of the books “Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East” and “The Peace Puzzle: America’s Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace, 1989-2011.” He is the editor of “Pathways to Peace: America and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.”

His numerous awards include the Presidential Distinguished Service Award (2005) and the State Department Distinguished Service Award (2005), among others.

Ambassador Kurtzer earned his bachelor’s degree from Yeshiva University, and two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

The Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute was created in 1979 through an endowment funded by the local Jewish community. The Institute fosters a better understanding and appreciation of Judaism, Israel and their histories. It supports visits to the University by Jewish scholars and writers and supports library acquisitions, publications, faculty research, travel and other scholarly endeavors. The work of the Institute was further enhanced by a $1 million gift from Harry Weinberg in 1990.

For further information, contact Marc Shapiro, Ph.D., professor of theology/religious studies at The University of Scranton, at 570-941-7956 or marc.shapiro@scranton.edu.

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