Avi Dichter to speak on Israel’s security challenges at Rice’s Baker Institute Jan. 27

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327

Jeff Falk
jfalk@rice.edu
713-348-6775

Avi Dichter to speak on Israel’s security challenges at Rice’s Baker Institute Jan. 27

HOUSTON – (Jan. 21, 2014) – Avi Dichter, chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Survivors and former Israeli minister of home front defense, will discuss Israel’s security challenges at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Jan 27. The event is hosted by the Baker Institute’s Center for the Middle East.

Who:               Avi Dichter, chairman of the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Survivors in Israel.

Edward Djerejian, Baker Institute founding director (introductory remarks).

What:             A free public lectured titled “Israel’s Security Challenges.”

When:             Monday, Jan. 27, 6-7:30 p.m.

Where:           Rice University, Baker Hall, Doré Commons, 6100 Main St.

Prior to serving as minister of home front defense under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 2012 to 2013, Dichter was minister of public security under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from 2006 to 2009. In the latter role, he formed the new modus operandi of signal intelligence for the Israeli police to support a new national crime-fighting unit similar to the FBI. He also instituted Israel’s Witness Protection Program and signed cooperation agreements with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Canada’s Ministry of Public Safety and the Minister of the Interior of Germany as well as with other countries in the European Union. Dichter was a member of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, from 2006 to 2012, and was chairman of the Subcommittee for Security Conception and Power Building. Before entering politics, he was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Dichter was born in Israel to parents who survived the Holocaust.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

For a map of Rice University’s campus, go to www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html.

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Related materials:

Dichter bio: http://www.k-shoa.org/Eng/?CategoryID=178&ArticleID=206&Page=1.

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Founded in 1993, the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston ranks among the top 20 university-affiliated think tanks globally and top 30 think tanks in the United States. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows and Rice University scholars. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.