May 24, 2010 / 11 Sivan 5770 

The Jewish Agency is pleased to announce the appointment of Larry Weinberg to the newly-established position of Chief Communications Officer of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Currently working in the Agency’s Jerusalem headquarters, Mr. Weinberg will be based in New York reporting to Dr. Misha Galperin. The announcement that Galperin will, on July 1st, become the CEO of a newly created Global Public Affairs and Financial Resource Development group was announced in March. Mr. Weinberg will be responsible for the management of the Agency’s brand, its marketing and communications activities and lead its efforts to reach out to the world Jewish community utilizing cutting-edge communications technologies and platforms. The department will work closely with the Jewish Agency’s key partners: in North America, the Jewish Federations of North America, JDC, and others; as well as with Keren Heyesod, other Jewish organizations and communities in Europe, and still others worldwide.

Larry Weinberg is a marketing and communications professional with 30 years experience. Most recently he served as executive vice president of ISRAEL21c, an innovative nonprofit pro-Israel communications and advocacy group that conceived, created and still sets the standard for the “Beyond the Conflict” branch of pro-Israel communications. Mr. Weinberg led the organization’s “New Paradigm for Israel Communications” effort in North America leading to extensive adoption of the positive messaging approach to Israel’s image. He also served as a founding member of the team advising Israel’s Foreign Ministry on the development of its nation-branding program. Prior to ISRAEL21c, Mr. Weinberg was a principal of Navicom Group, Inc. a public relations company he founded with a partner that had offices in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

“The Jewish Agency is about to make major decisions relating to its future. I am confident that Larry Weinberg will play a major role in transmitting this new message throughout the Jewish world," said Natan Sharansky, chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

"We are delighted to have Larry Weinberg join our senior staff in New York,” said Dr. Galperin. “His work at ISRAEL21c showed him to be a strategist, innovator and leader who successfully introduced new concepts and practices that were accepted and widely adopted throughout the Jewish world. We are looking for Larry to bring that passion, energy and experience to our efforts to communicate the Jewish Agency’s new vision and strategic direction.”

“I am thrilled to join this mission because I believe completely in the vision that Natan Sharansky has articulated for the Jewish Agency and the Jewish people,” said Larry Weinberg, “And I am particularly excited to be able to work side-by-side in this effort with Misha Galperin. This will clearly be a labor of love for me.”

Larry Weinberg was born and raised in New York, earned a bachelor’s degree from NYU and a masters from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University. After working for three New York City mayors, he became the economic development director for Brooklyn, NY and was the founding president of the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation. After working in New York in public relations, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1988 where soon after, he founded his first public relations firm.

In 1996 Charles Bronfman invited Larry to serve on the board of Israel Experience, Inc., a non-profit start-up that in 1998 became become Birthright Israel. Larry served as Birthright’s marketing vice chair, supervised the original branding of Birthright Israel and the marketing of the first trips. It was during the first-ever Birthright mega-event in Jerusalem that Larry envisioned the possibility of making Israel-related work his vocation, not just his avocation. He joined ISRAEL21c two years later.

Mr. Weinberg currently lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife Dana, their two sons and two dogs. He will relocate to New York in July 2010.

To contact Mr. Weinberg, please call 011 972 54 440 4989.