‘Prime Ministers’ author to speak in Beverly Hills

Ambassador Yehuda Avner, who served as a diplomat, speechwriter and prime ministerial adviser in Israeli governments from the 1950s to the 1990s, will speaking this weekend at Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills. Avner wrote “The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership” (The Toby Press, LLC, 2010), a 700-page opus based on notes he took while serving as adviser or secretary to five prime ministers. The book, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards in 2010, is now being made into two motion pictures.

Avner will speak about “The Jewishness of Israel’s Prime Ministers” on May 19 at 11 a.m. during Shabbat morning services, which begin at 9 a.m. Israeli Consul General David Siegel will introduce Avner. A lunch with Avner is already sold out, but he will address the public again at 6 p.m., when Liebe Geft, director of the Museum of Tolerance, will moderate a conversation with Avner about the U.S.-Israel relationship as seen through encounters between U.S. presidents and Israel’s prime ministers. All events take place at Beth Jacob, 9030 W. Olympic Blvd. Signed copies of “The Prime Ministers” will be available for purchase before or after Shabbat at Beth Jacob.

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