Hannah Rosenthal
Encyclopedia
Hannah Rosenthal is a Special Envoy and the head of Office To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
in the Obama Administration, sworn to office November 23, 2009.
(JCPA), and former executive director of the Chicago Foundation for Women. She was the vice president for community relations for the not-for-profit WPS Health Insurance Corporation
. Rosenthal served on the advisory council of J Street
and J Street PAC. In the 2008 presidential election, she supported and contributed to Hillary Clinton. She served on the board of Americans for Peace Now
.
In 1995 Rosenthal was appointed by the Clinton Administration to serve as Midwest regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She headed JCPA from August 2000 to 2005. In 2005, she was named one of the Forward Fifty’s, a list of the most influential Jews selected by The Forward
newspaper.
According to Jewish Standard
, Rosenthal did not want to become the anti-Semitism envoy and "was advocating for someone else in the role", but the State Department Official Michael Posner
"was very insistent.” In the same article she described her views on anti-Semitism
: “Some of the criticism Israel sees and its isolation in the United Nations
clearly comes from a place of anti-Semitism, but not all of it does. We need to call out anti-Semitism when it’s there.”
Rosenthal's father was a Holocaust survivor, a former prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp, and a Reform
rabbi
. She attended Mount Holyoke College
in South Hadley, MA through her sophomore year and then transferred to, and holds a BA from, University of Wisconsin. She then studied for the rabbinate at Hebrew Union College
in Jerusalem and Los Angeles
, but quit in 1975. She was married to Richard J. Phelps
, a former three term Dane County
executive
. Together they have two grown daughters, Shira and Francie. Rosenthal is open about how she survived uterine cancer
.
, US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Rosenthal launched the Acceptance, Respect and Tolerance Initiative to promote inter-faith and inter-ethnic understanding. This initiative was criticized by Gregg Rickman, a Special Envoy in the George W. Bush Administration
.
president Abraham Foxman
in an open letter
, for saying that the speakers of the Israel solidarity rally "espoused narrow, ultra-conservative views of what it means to be pro-Israel". The list of speakers included Harry Reid
, Dick Gephardt
, and Natan Sharansky
. In response to Foxman's letter, in an interview to The Tablet Magazine
, Rosenthal said "I have worked with Abe in the past and I consider Abe a friend of mine" and that "we mostly agree". Foxman was supportive of Rosenthal's appointment; in a statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League
, Foxman wrote: "We look forward to working with Hannah Rosenthal [...]" Others voiced a different view. Ed Lasky wrote "The rumored envoy, Hannah Rosenthal, does not care much for Israel - the home of half the world's Jews, with plenty of anti-Semites (three hundred million or so) surrounding it." The Jewish Press
in its editorial echoed Michael Goldfarb from The Weekly Standard
and sharply criticized Rosenthal for saying that "It's a scary time, with people losing the ability to differentiate between a Jew, any Jew, and what's going on in Israel," which the newspaper claimed "[the] implication [is] that Israeli Jews are fair game for anti-Semitic attacks, as opposed to non-Israeli Jews who are not".
According to The People's Voice website
, Rosenthal is currently "under attack" from Israel Lobby. Andrew Sullivan
on his blog hosted by The Atlantic reported that "true hardliners are trying to derail her."
In December 2009 Rosenthal criticized Israel's ambassador to the United States Michael Oren
for his "most unfortunate" remarks regarding J Street
. This caused the Israel
i Embassy in Washington
to request clarification from the Obama administration. Alan Solow
, one of the earliest Obama
supporters and current chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called this criticism "inappropriate" and "could threaten to limit her effectiveness in the area for which she is actually responsible". Rounding up the response from other political observers, Shmuel Rosner
writes in Jerusalem Post that Rosenthal was "a problematic pick for this job to begin with," is "definitely not smart," and that she became "an unnecessary and unwelcome distraction". P. David Hornik writes in the FrontPage Magazine: "Rosenthal lacks exactly what she ought to have: a clear, reality-attuned grasp of the actual, grim situation of Jew-and Israel-hatred in today’s world." Her comments were also criticized by Gregg Rickman, the previous Anti-Semitism Special Envoy. He writes: "If Ms. Rosenthal cannot figure out the borders and limits of her portfolio, perhaps then she should seek another position to avoid further embarrassment".
In a follow up to the Michael Oren controversy, in an interview to the Jewish Chronicle, Rosenthal said: "The quote was completely accurate but the headlines were crazy. Then the blogger
s picked it up and went nuts." She continued: "I have relationships with some of those who wrote the blogs - we're more than acquaintances. I expect to have a civil discourse. If you have a problem with me, pick up the phone and tell me - don't print it in a newspaper."
Rosenthal had also caused controversy when she said in 2001 that the pardon of Marc Rich was "based on the legal merits."
Office To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
The Office To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism is a part of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs at the United States Department of State. It is headed by the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism . The office "advocates U.S...
in the Obama Administration, sworn to office November 23, 2009.
Biography
Rosenthal is a former head of the Jewish Council for Public AffairsJewish Council for Public Affairs
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs is an American Jewish non-profit organization that deals with community relations. It is a coordinating round table organization of 14 other national Jewish organizations as well as 127 local Jewish federations and community relations councils...
(JCPA), and former executive director of the Chicago Foundation for Women. She was the vice president for community relations for the not-for-profit WPS Health Insurance Corporation
Wisconsin Physicians Service
Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation is a not for profit service insurance corporation based in Madison, Wisconsin. WPS offers commercial health insurance products in the state of Wisconsin and provides insurance claims processing services under various U.S. Government contracts...
. Rosenthal served on the advisory council of J Street
J Street
J Street is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israel-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. It was founded in April 2008....
and J Street PAC. In the 2008 presidential election, she supported and contributed to Hillary Clinton. She served on the board of Americans for Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now
Americans for Peace Now , the United States partner of Israel’s Shalom Achshav organization, is an American coalition working to help Israel achieve a secure peace with the Arab states and the Palestinian people...
.
In 1995 Rosenthal was appointed by the Clinton Administration to serve as Midwest regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She headed JCPA from August 2000 to 2005. In 2005, she was named one of the Forward Fifty’s, a list of the most influential Jews selected by The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
newspaper.
According to Jewish Standard
Jewish Standard
The Jewish Standard is a newspaper based in Teaneck, New Jersey, USA, that serves the Jewish community in Bergen County. The Jewish Standard was founded in 1931 and is the oldest Jewish weekly in New Jersey....
, Rosenthal did not want to become the anti-Semitism envoy and "was advocating for someone else in the role", but the State Department Official Michael Posner
Michael Posner (lawyer)
Michael H. Posner is an American lawyer, the Founding Executive Director and later the President of Human Rights First , and the current Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States.- Early years :Posner received a B.A...
"was very insistent.” In the same article she described her views on anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
: “Some of the criticism Israel sees and its isolation in the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
clearly comes from a place of anti-Semitism, but not all of it does. We need to call out anti-Semitism when it’s there.”
Rosenthal's father was a Holocaust survivor, a former prisoner at the Buchenwald concentration camp, and a Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
. She attended Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
in South Hadley, MA through her sophomore year and then transferred to, and holds a BA from, University of Wisconsin. She then studied for the rabbinate at Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
in Jerusalem and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, but quit in 1975. She was married to Richard J. Phelps
Richard J. Phelps
Richard J. Phelps is an American politician from Wisconsin.Phelps received his bachelors and law degrees from University of Wisconsin–Madison. Phelps served as Dane County, Wisconsin County Executive for nine years. He is a senior vice president of M&I Bank. His wife was Hannah Rosenthal, an...
, a former three term Dane County
Dane County, Wisconsin
As of the census of 2000, there were 426,526 people, 173,484 households, and 100,794 families residing in the county. The population density was 355 people per square mile . There were 180,398 housing units at an average density of 150 per square mile...
executive
County executive
A county executive is the head of the executive branch of government in a county. This position is common in the United States.The executive may be an elected or an appointed position...
. Together they have two grown daughters, Shira and Francie. Rosenthal is open about how she survived uterine cancer
Uterine cancer
The term uterine cancer may refer to any of several different types of cancer which occur in the uterus, namely:*Uterine sarcomas: sarcomas of the myometrium, or muscular layer of the uterus, are most commonly leiomyosarcomas.*Endometrial cancer:...
.
Work as a Special Envoy
Together with Farah PandithFarah Pandith
Farah Pandith is the first ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the United States Department of State...
, US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, Rosenthal launched the Acceptance, Respect and Tolerance Initiative to promote inter-faith and inter-ethnic understanding. This initiative was criticized by Gregg Rickman, a Special Envoy in the George W. Bush Administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
.
Political controversies
Rosenthal was criticized by ADLAnti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
president Abraham Foxman
Abraham Foxman
Abraham H. Foxman is the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League.-Early life:Foxman, an only son, was born in Baranovichi, just months after the USSR took the town from Poland in the Nazi-Soviet Pact and incorporated it into the BSSR. The town is now in Belarus...
in an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
, for saying that the speakers of the Israel solidarity rally "espoused narrow, ultra-conservative views of what it means to be pro-Israel". The list of speakers included Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
, Dick Gephardt
Dick Gephardt
Richard Andrew "Dick" Gephardt is a lobbyist and former prominent American politician of the Democratic Party. Gephardt served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri from January 3, 1977, until January 3, 2005, serving as House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995, and as Minority Leader from 1995 to...
, and Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky was born in Stalino, Soviet Union on 20 January 1948 to a Jewish family. He graduated with a degree in applied mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. As a child, he was a chess prodigy. He performed in simultaneous and blindfold displays, usually against...
. In response to Foxman's letter, in an interview to The Tablet Magazine
Tablet Magazine
Tablet Magazine is a two-time National Magazine Award-winning online publication of Jewish life, arts, and ideas. Sponsored by Nextbook, it was launched in June 2009. Its Editor in Chief is Alana Newhouse....
, Rosenthal said "I have worked with Abe in the past and I consider Abe a friend of mine" and that "we mostly agree". Foxman was supportive of Rosenthal's appointment; in a statement issued by the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
, Foxman wrote: "We look forward to working with Hannah Rosenthal [...]" Others voiced a different view. Ed Lasky wrote "The rumored envoy, Hannah Rosenthal, does not care much for Israel - the home of half the world's Jews, with plenty of anti-Semites (three hundred million or so) surrounding it." The Jewish Press
The Jewish Press
The Jewish Press is an American weekly newspaper, geared toward the Modern Orthodox Jewish community. It describes itself as "America's Largest Independent Jewish Weekly." The newspaper has a politically conservative viewpoint and editorial policy....
in its editorial echoed Michael Goldfarb from The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
and sharply criticized Rosenthal for saying that "It's a scary time, with people losing the ability to differentiate between a Jew, any Jew, and what's going on in Israel," which the newspaper claimed "[the] implication [is] that Israeli Jews are fair game for anti-Semitic attacks, as opposed to non-Israeli Jews who are not".
According to The People's Voice website
The People's Voice
The People's Voice is an Israeli-Palestinian civil initiative dedicated to advancing the process of achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians...
, Rosenthal is currently "under attack" from Israel Lobby. Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Michael Sullivan is an English author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative. He has focused on American political life....
on his blog hosted by The Atlantic reported that "true hardliners are trying to derail her."
In December 2009 Rosenthal criticized Israel's ambassador to the United States Michael Oren
Michael Oren
Michael B. Oren is an American-born Israeli historian and author and the Israeli ambassador to the United States...
for his "most unfortunate" remarks regarding J Street
J Street
J Street is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab-Israeli and Israel-Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatically. It was founded in April 2008....
. This caused the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Embassy in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to request clarification from the Obama administration. Alan Solow
Alan Solow
Alan P. Solow is an American lawyer, Jewish leader and philanthropist. He is a partner at DLA Piper's bankruptcy group based in Chicago, and a Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations...
, one of the earliest Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
supporters and current chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called this criticism "inappropriate" and "could threaten to limit her effectiveness in the area for which she is actually responsible". Rounding up the response from other political observers, Shmuel Rosner
Shmuel Rosner
Shmuel Rosner is an Israeli journalist and editor. He writes for the Jerusalem Post, Maariv and Slate magazine. In 2005-2008, he was chief United States correspondent for the daily newspaper Haaretz.- Journalism career :...
writes in Jerusalem Post that Rosenthal was "a problematic pick for this job to begin with," is "definitely not smart," and that she became "an unnecessary and unwelcome distraction". P. David Hornik writes in the FrontPage Magazine: "Rosenthal lacks exactly what she ought to have: a clear, reality-attuned grasp of the actual, grim situation of Jew-and Israel-hatred in today’s world." Her comments were also criticized by Gregg Rickman, the previous Anti-Semitism Special Envoy. He writes: "If Ms. Rosenthal cannot figure out the borders and limits of her portfolio, perhaps then she should seek another position to avoid further embarrassment".
In a follow up to the Michael Oren controversy, in an interview to the Jewish Chronicle, Rosenthal said: "The quote was completely accurate but the headlines were crazy. Then the blogger
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s picked it up and went nuts." She continued: "I have relationships with some of those who wrote the blogs - we're more than acquaintances. I expect to have a civil discourse. If you have a problem with me, pick up the phone and tell me - don't print it in a newspaper."
Rosenthal had also caused controversy when she said in 2001 that the pardon of Marc Rich was "based on the legal merits."
External links
- Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Hannah Rosenthal from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...