New Rochelle woman to lead the AZM

Deborah S. Isaac of New Rochelle was  elected president of the American Zionist Movement, a federation of 39 US Zionist organizations, at AZM’s Biennial National Assembly held virtually on Tuesday.

She becomes the first woman to serve as president of AZM, succeeding Richard D. Heideman of Washington, DC.

“Israel is the one and only homeland of the Jewish people,” said Isaac in her inaugural remarks. “Zionism is about that peoplehood. There is only one place in the entire world that will protect Jews no matter where we are, regardless of our status as a citizen or non-citizen. We must celebrate and elevate Israel with every fiber of our being.”

Isaac is a past national president and longtime leader in AMIT, Israel’s leading educational network of schools. A delegate of the Orthodox Israel Coalition/Mizrachi slate to three World Zionist Congresses, she is currently a member of the Presidium of the Vaad Hapoel/Zionist General Council of the World Zionist Organization.

Other AZM officers elected at the assembly include former Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner, vice president for financial resource development, from RZA-Mizrachi; chair of the national board Michael Laufer, of ARZA; vice president for programming Nomi Colton-Max,of Ameinu; vice president for Inter-Organizational Relations, Ellen Hershkin, of Hadassah; vice president for WZO Relations, Mindy Stein, of Emunah; vice president for governance and operations, Naomi Yadin-Mendick, of MERCAZ USA; treasurer Susan Longo, of ARZA; and secretary Lori Lowenthal Marcus, of ZOA.