Orthodox rabbi to advise David Friedman at US embassy in Israel

Lightstone has connections to both US President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, as well as to the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By MICHAEL WILNER
Updated: APRIL 4, 2017 02:54
US Embassy in Tel Aviv (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
US Embassy in Tel Aviv
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
WASHINGTON – Aryeh Lightstone, an Orthodox rabbi who works in Jewish education, will serve in an advisory role at the US Embassy in Israel alongside Ambassador David Friedman, a State Department official confirmed Sunday.
A graduate of Yeshiva University, Lightstone has served in several educational roles across New York and Long Island over the past decade, most recently as chief creative officer and cofounder of Mekorot Education, an organization modernizing the delivery of Jewish education online, and as regional director of New York NCSY.
Lightstone has connections to both US President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, as well as to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“A businessman at heart but a klal (community) person in reality, Rabbi Lightstone infuses his entrepreneurial spirit in all of his programs,” his bio on the Orthodox Union website reads. “Over the past five years, his programs have gained the acclaim of the likes of Ivanka Trump, Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, among many others.”
In 2011, Ivanka Trump co-chaired a competition alongside philanthropist Philip Rosen and Rabbi Steven Weil that awarded one of Lightstone’s educational initiatives.
The program, called JUMP – the Jewish Unity Mentoring Program, was praised by all three cochairman for its Israel advocacy.