Malcolm Hoenlein says his role with Israeli gas giant is completely transparent - THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

17 March 2018, 4:29 am

Ben Sales
After disclosure of his dual roles, US Jewish leader probed for more information on possible conflicts of interest

Photo: Malcolm Hoenlein, center, the executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and Stephen Greenberg, right, its chairman, meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, February 9, 2016. (Courtesy of Conference of Presidents via JTA)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Malcolm Hoenlein, who is the professional head of one of American Jewry’s most influential organizations and who sits on the board of a large Israeli energy company, told JTA he sees no conflict between those roles.

Hoenlein is executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella organization that speaks for over 50 Jewish groups on foreign policy, including issues related to Israel. Since June 2017, he has also been on the board of directors of Delek Drilling, a private company that is a major stakeholder in Israel’s large offshore natural gas fields.

Top U.S. Jewish Leader Has Little-known Side Job as Director of Israeli Gas Giant Behind $15b Egypt Deal - HAARETZ / THE FORWARD

Mar 13, 2018 9:13 AM

The Forward and Josh Nathan-Kazis 

Days after Delek Drilling announced the Egypt deal, the Presidents Conference – lead by Malcolm Hoenlein at the time – hosted a panel promoting gas extraction as a route to Mideast peace

Less than two weeks before the Israeli energy giant Delek Drilling announced a $15 billion deal to pump natural gas to Egypt, one of its board members, Malcolm Hoenlein, told a newspaper that the United States should be “standing up for” Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, despite his troubling human rights record.

“You can criticize and you can push for human rights and do all those things,” Hoenlein said. “At the same time you’ve got to recognize the realities that these countries face.”