On Feb. 5, Isaac Herzog, Chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, presented the inaugural Harry C. Sigman Distinguished Lecture in Israel Studies. The lecture was followed by a conversation with Professor Dov Waxman, Director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.

 About the Speaker

Isaac Herzog was appointed Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel in June 2018. He succeeded Natan Sharansky as Chairman of this historic and influential organization. Before entering his position at The Jewish Agency, Herzog served as Member of Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) since 2003. He served as the Chairman of the Israeli Labor Party, as well as the Knesset Opposition Leader.

In 2015, Herzog was a front-runner to win the election for Israel’s Prime Minister. He led the alliance between the Labor Party and the Hatnua Party to create Israel’s largest center-left political party, and was the leading candidate to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanynaahu in the national elections.

Over the past 15 years, Herzog has held several Ministerial posts: Minister of Housing and Construction; Minister of Tourism; Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Society and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism; Minister of Welfare and Social Services, as well as Member of the Security Cabinet. He also served as Government Secretary and as the Government of Israel Coordinator for the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza in 2008-2009.

Prior to entering politics, Herzog was a senior partner at the law firm of Herzog, Fox & Ne’eman. He is the son of the sixth President of Israel Chaim Herzog, grandson of Israel's first Chief Rabbi, Yitzhak Isaac HaLevi Herzog, and nephew of Israel's former Foreign Minister Abba Eban.

Sigman specialized in U.S. and international commercial law. He worked as a consultant to governments and NGOs all over the world and had represented the United States at the United Nations, The Hague and Unidroit (the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) in multilateral commercial law treaty negotiations. He also taught law at the University of Southern California, UCLA and universities around the world, including in Israel.

Sigman earned his undergraduate degree from UCLA and completed his law degree at Harvard University. He was a member of the State Bar of California for more than 50 years.

Event Details

Distinguished lecture held in Korn Convocation Hall, Anderson School of Management on February 5, 2020. Videographer: Oliver Chien/UCLA.

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Duration: 01:01:46