On May 14, Israel will celebrate 70 years of statehood. Since being granted its sovereignty in 1948, making it the first Jewish state in 2,000 years, Israel has remained a hot-button topic worldwide. Constant border disputes with Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and other Middle East states have made Israel a conflict zone, with their religious struggles with Palestine making it an area of relevant interest. But the clashes in Israel and its surrounding states runs deeper than surface-level media reports and political endeavors. This is why, for the past two decades, foreign policy advisor, writer and Israeli expert Jacob Goldberg has made annual visits to San Diego. Goldberg works to help people understand both the lives of Israeli and Middle Eastern citizens and the many challenges they face, both external and domestic. “I do not try to be judgmental about the issues that I explain, or tell people what to think of them,” said Goldberg in an email interview. “Rather, I am trying to put some sense into what seems to be incomprehensible.”
Goldberg earned his PhD in Middle East politics from Harvard University and is a former senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He is the author of “The Foreign Policy of Saudi Arabia,” and has also published numerous articles in Israeli newspapers and U.S. publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
For the last decade, the internationally respected lecturer has been a professor at the College of Legal Studies in Israel, but once a year he shares lecture time with San Diegans. From March 12 to 14, Goldberg will speak for a three-night series program at La Jolla’s Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center (4126 Executive Drive), covering a vast array of topics from the ascendance of Iran in a new Middle East landscape to the absence of an active U.S. in Saudi Arabia. “People adore him,” JCC’s program director Brian Garrick said of Goldberg. “Some people might have opinions on a specific area, but his understanding of the region and geopolitical landscape is incredible.”
Garrick added that hundreds of people from all backgrounds come every year to hear Goldberg speak and participate in the Q&As. When Garrick was offered the position a year ago, the cultural needs of people in San Diego was part of the impetus, he says, so the move from New York was an “easy decision to make.” San Diego’s Center for Jewish Culture is the county’s only Jewish institution of its kind and is dedicated to presenting high quality, nationally recognized arts, culture and Jewish education programs in hopes of expanding the cultural life here in San Diego.
“Understanding that culture is so important, whether you’re Jewish or not,” said Garrick. “We need to continually be relevant and Goldberg is giving those up-to-the-minute updates.”
Goldberg says he usually analyzes the events of the preceding year, but since Iran and Saudi Arabia play a central role in this year’s series, the lectures will highlight not only current events but also fundamental issues related to the power structure in both countries that people are, as he says, “usually unaware of.”
“It is not my intention to repeat what is being said and written in the media, but to give people a perspective, a framework, a context for what they see, read and hear, so that they get a better understanding of the Middle East,” said Goldberg. He adds, “I think that the Middle East is probably the most interesting and fascinating region in the world. No matter how much one studies it, there is always a vast area that is yet to be explored.”
Tickets to this lecture series cost $25. When:?March 12 to 14; start time at 7 p,m.
Where:?Lawrence Family JCC, 4126 Executive Drive.
Contact: Visit sdcjc.org, 858-362-1358.
