Over a year and a half ago, on October 6, 2023, I had taken the last flight out of Israel at 1 a.m. from Ben-Gurion Airport to return to New York for the end of the High Holy Days. What would occur that Saturday on October 7 would leave the whole world in shock as Israel experienced the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. A few days later, in the aftermath of the tragedy, I received word that Newt Gingrich would be speaking at the Metropolitan Republican Club in New York City. Still in shock (as the whole world was) regarding what had just transpired, I decided to attend the event, as I had met Mr. Gingrich and knew him to be a great friend of Israel.
Newton Leroy Gingrich is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. In 2012, he ran as the Republican candidate for president of the United States and was a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional election. In 1995, Time named him “Man of the Year” for “his role in ending the four-decade Democratic majority in the House.” As House speaker, Gingrich oversaw passage by the House of welfare reform in 1996 and a capital gains tax cut in 1997. He played a key role in several government shutdowns, and impeached president Bill Clinton on a party-line vote in the House. Since leaving the House of Representatives, Gingrich has remained active in public policy debates and worked as a political consultant. He founded and chaired several policy think tanks, such as American Solutions for Winning the Future, and the Center for Health Transformation.
