Djerejian, Sher available to discuss Israeli elections

EXPERT ALERT

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

Djerejian, Sher available to discuss Israeli elections

HOUSTON – (April 8, 2019) – Israelis will go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to give Likud party incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another round in office amid corruption investigations or to hand over the reins to the Blue and White party and former military general Benny Gantz.

Credit: 123RF.com/Rice University

Netanyahu, who has been in office since 2009, has the firm backing of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Edward Djerejian, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, and Gilead Sher, the Brochstein Fellow in Middle East Peace and Security in Honor of Yitzhak Rabin at the institute, are available for interviews to discuss the Israeli elections.

Djerejian is also a former U.S. ambassador to Syria and former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Djerejian’s career in the U.S. Foreign Service spanned the administrations of eight presidents from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton. He has played key roles in the Arab-Israeli peace process and regional conflict resolution. He is the author of “Danger and Opportunity: An American Ambassador’s Journey Through the Middle East.”

Sher heads the Center for Applied Negotiations, which he founded in 2013, and is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. Sher was the chief of staff and policy coordinator for Ehud Barak, Israel’s former prime minister and minister of defense. He served as chief and co-chief negotiator from 1999-2001, a tenure that included negotiations at the 2000 Camp David summit and the 2001 Taba talks as well as the 1999 Sharm El-Sheikh Agreement and extensive rounds of covert negotiations.

The Baker Institute has a television and radio interview studio available.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Djerejian or Sher, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

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Related materials:

Djerejian bio: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/edward-p-djerejian

Sher bio: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/gilead-sher

Follow Djerejian on Twitter @EdwardDjerejian.

Follow Sher on Twitter @GileadSher.

Follow the Baker Institute on Twitter @BakerInstitute.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations on Twitter @RiceUNews.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top three university-affiliated think tanks in the world. 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, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.