Naftali Bennett
Israeli Politician who has led the right-wing religious The Jewish Home party since 2012. He has served as Israel's Minister of Education since 2015 and Minister of Diaspora Affairs since 2013
Naftali Bennett was born in 1972 to American Jewish immigrants and was raised in Haifa
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Naftali Bennett was born in 1972 to American Jewish immigrants and was raised in Haifa, where he attended Yavne Yeshiva High School in Haifa. In the army Bennett served in the elite Sayeret Matkal and Maglan units. As a Major in the reserves, Bennett is in charge of selection camps (Gibbush) for potential Sayeret Matkal recruits. Following his IDF service, Bennett received a Law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In 1999 Bennett co-founded “Cyota” – an anti-fraud software company – and served as its CEO. The company was sold in 2005 to RSA Security for $145 million, but a stipulation of the deal allowed the Israeli arm of Cyota to remain intact. As a result, some 400 Israelis are employed at the company’s Israeli offices in Beersheba and Herzliya.
In 2005 Bennett was appointed Chief of Staff of then-opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. In this capacity, he was among those who drafted Netanyahu’s educational reform plan. He also ran Netanyahu’s successful primary campaign to lead the Likud party in August 2007. In January 2010, Bennett was appointed as the director-general of the Yesha Council and led the campaign to annul the settlement moratorium in Jewish communities located in Judea and Samaria. During that time he founded the “My Israel” movement with Ayelet Shaked. The movement, which combats delegitimization attempts, post-Zionist organizations, and anti-Israel boycotts, won the Media Criticism Award in 2012 for its work.
In 2012 “Forbes Israel” included Bennett on its list of Israeli millionaires graded by their ranking in elite IDF units. That same year, his book “Exit” was published. The book is meant to help Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs and encourage education for entrepreneurship in business and education.
In November 2012, Bennett was elected as the leader of the HaBayit HaYehudi party, which won 12 Knesset seats in the 2013 elections. Following the elections, Bennett was appointed Minister of the Economy, Minister of Religious Services and Minister of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs in the new government. He was also appointed as a member of the Political-Security Cabinet and chairman of the Ministerial Committee on the Cost of Living.
In January 2015, Bennett was re-elected as head of HaBayit HaYehudi, receiving 90% of the votes in the party primaries held prior to the general elections for the 20th Knesset. In the general elections, his party won eight seats in parliament. Bennett was appointed Education Minister and Minister for Diaspora Affairs in the government established by Benjamin Netanyahu.
As an English-speaker, Bennett regularly explains the State of Israel’s positions to the foreign media.
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Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
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