On Sunday 7 November, HE Omar Saif Ghobash, UAE Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy, will discuss the Abraham Accords’ impact during an online discussion with Dr Jeffrey Herbst, the President of the American Jewish University.
In August 2020, Israel signed the historic Abraham Accords, establishing diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. In the following months, Morocco and Sudan signed similar agreements with Israel, ushering in a new era of economic integration, security cooperation, and cultural exchange between the Jewish State and Arab countries.
His Excellency Omar Saif Ghobash, the UAE Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy, and former Ambassador to Russia (2008-17), will join AJU President Dr. Jeffrey Herbst to discuss the Accords’ impact on the regional order from the perspective of the UAE. An advocate of moderate Islam and author of the 2017 bestseller Letters to a Young Muslim, Ambassador Ghobash will discuss how this unprecedented diplomatic opening could foster mutual respect and cooperation between Jewish and Muslim communities, both in the Middle East and around the world.
Sunday 7 November at 10am PST (10pm UAE)
Register here
Guest: Omar Saif Ghobash
Omar Saif Ghobash is an author, businessman, and diplomat, currently serving the United Arab Emirates as Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy. Previously, he served as Ambassador to France (2017-2018) and Ambassador to Russia (2008-2017). In addition to his diplomatic work, Ambassador Ghobash sponsors the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation and is a founding trustee of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in collaboration with the Man Booker Prize in London; he serves on the board of trustees of the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi. Ambassador Ghobash studied Law at Oxford and Math at the University of London.
Host: Dr. Jeffrey Herbst
Dr. Jeffrey Herbst is the fourth president of American Jewish University. At AJU, he has focused on promoting innovation in the university’s academic programs. He has also supported the growth of the Maas Center for Jewish Journeys, expansion of the B’Yachad/Together digital platform, and capital improvements on the Brandeis-Bardin Campus.
Prior to joining AJU, Dr. Herbst was president and CEO of the Newseum and the Newseum Institute in Washington, DC. From 2010 to 2015, he was president of Colgate University, where among other accomplishments he is credited with helping the university complete its nearly half billion-dollar fundraising campaign, leading the development and initial implementation of a university-wide strategic plan, and increasing the diversity and academic caliber of its educational programming.
Dr. Herbst earned his bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Princeton University, and a master’s degree and doctorate in political science from Yale University. He is the author of the award-winning “States and Power in Africa” and, with several co-authors, the just-published “Making Africa Work.”
