Ellie Cohanim (born December 10, 1972) is a former American diplomat and broadcast journalist who served as Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the United States Department of State during the first Donald Trump administration. [1]
Ellie Cohanim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism | |
| In office November 11, 2019 – January 20, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Secretary | Mike Pompeo |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Aaron Keyak |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elham Cohanim December 10, 1972 Tehran, Imperial State of Iran |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Barnard College, Columbia (BA) |
Education
editCohanim earned her B.A. in Political Science from Barnard College, Columbia University. She conducted graduate studies in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.[2][3]
Career
editPrior to her position at the United States Department of State, she was a Special Correspondent and Senior Vice President for Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS) and an Executive at Yeshiva University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and UJA-Federation of New York.[4][5][6]
Cohanim has criticized the government in Iran[7] and what she has termed their "obsessive anti-Semitism".[8] Cohanim criticized the social media company Twitter over what she deemed their hypocrisy in refusing to censor the Twitter account of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who has published countless anti-Semitic tweets calling for the "genocidal" elimination of the State of Israel, while simultaneously censoring the Tweets of President Trump. Cohanim went on to call upon Twitter to completely ban Khamenei from their platform.[9][10] Cohanim has condemned the terrorist-designated group Hezbollah, citing their ties to Iran, and has publicly stated that the US praises countries which follow the US in designating Hezbollah a terrorist group and freezing their assets.[11][12]
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cohanim proclaimed that the emerging conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the global outbreak and spread of the Coronavirus are a "modern-day blood libel", and admonished government figures in Iran, Turkey, and the Palestinian Authority for spreading these conspiracy theories.[13]
Personal life
editCohanim was born in Tehran, Iran, to a Jewish family that fled the country at the start of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and found refuge in the United States.[14] [15]
References
edit- ^ "Ellie Cohanim". state.gov. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "Inclusiveness and Leadership in the Jewish Community" (PDF). advancingwomen.org. Advancing Women Professionals. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 11, 2016. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ Spiro, Amy (19 August 2020). "From Tehran to the Trump Admin by Way of Bais Yaakov". The Jewish Insider. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ "Ellie Cohanim Tapped as US deputy envoy on anti-Semitism". JNS. Jewish Syndicate News. 6 December 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ Bandler, Aaron (6 December 2019). "Ellie Cohanim Named Deputy Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism". Jewish Journal. The Jewish Journal. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
- ^ "Daily Kickoff". The Jewish Insider. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ^ Rosenblatt, Gary (March 15, 2020). "Is It Still Safe to Be a Jew in America?". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ Haqqani, Husain (September 1, 2020). "Transcript: A Conversation with Assistant Special Envoy Ellie Cohanim on Combating Anti-Semitism". The Hudson Institute. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ Musto, Julia (July 31, 2020). "State Department envoy on Twitter's hypocrisy on Trump and Iran leader: It's "clear" their actions are politically-motivated". Foxnews.com. Fox News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ Bandler, Aaron (July 31, 2020). "State Department Envoy Calls on Twitter to Permanently Ban Ayatollah Khamanei". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ Holt, Faygie (30 July 2020). "Anti-Semitism Monitor on Women's Group: Advances in Argentina, Concerns in Yemen". JNS.com. Jewish Syndicate News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ Kaufman, Jane (23 July 2020). "Cohanim Discusses Support for Israel, Iran, Safety of Jews". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
- ^ Holt, Faygie. "Deputy Antisemitism Envoy: Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories a Modern Day Blood-Libel". Algemeiner.com. The Algemeiner. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
- ^ Lipman, Steve (June 25, 2014). "Sephardic Wave Rolling Into Manhattan". The New York Jewish Week. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ Martin, Bradley (26 January 2022). "Ellie Cohanim, from Iran to the State Dept: America's warrior for her people". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 24 June 2022.