Jewish Philanthropy Podcast · Dovid M Cohen

Israel at War #3 Raising Funds for the State of Israel with Howard L. Goldstein

·45 min·3 clips

Israel Bonds raised a billion dollars in four weeks after October 7, with new investors and institutions buying in.

1. Jewish Philanthropy Podcast features Howard Goldstein and David M. Cohen on Israel at War #3, focused on raising funds for the State of Israel. 2. Howard Goldstein is the national and international chairman of the board of Israel Bonds and a senior partner at Citrin Cooperman, so he speaks from fundraising and financial leadership. 3. The episode asks how Israel Bonds functions in wartime, why diaspora Jews buy bonds, and how support for Israel can be structured as investment and philanthropy. 4. Goldstein says he grew up after his father died when he was 10, with a younger brother, rent control, and food stamps. 5. He says his mother taught him to change what is wrong and improve what is right, and he carries that as his "MO". 6. He describes moving to Florida with his wife, Marcy, and wanting to connect to the Jewish community through leadership and Israel Bonds. 7. Goldstein says he has been leading national delegations for about 35 years and has taken groups of 75 to 300 people to Israel, Poland, Hungary, and Russia. 8. He says the goal of those trips was to show participants a movement from "dark to light," especially by going from Poland to Israel. 9. He says his first Israel trip at age 33 changed his life, gave him lifelong friends, and led to nearly 60 visits to Israel. 10. He says Israel Bonds now has many divisions and a path for "whatever you want to do," which he presents as a way to engage different types of supporters. 11. Goldstein argues that grooming successors is essential and says he has tried to make the board younger and more vibrant. 12. He says the average age of a bond buyer is 63 and that the organization needs to push that number down for the future. 13. He explains that by October 6 Israel Bonds had already hit a billion-dollar mark, something the organization had done for almost 10 years. 14. He says that after October 7 the campaign accelerated and Israel Bonds raised another billion dollars in four weeks. 15. He says the wartime buyers included new retail investors, state treasuries, institutions, and people who had not bought recently because of dissatisfaction with events in Israel. 16. He says Israel Bonds is not political and calls Israel "a state of mind," adding that the bond lets diaspora Jews make an "economic aliyah" from places like Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Texas, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. 17. Goldstein says the Shalom Bond lets a buyer designate bond proceeds to a charity, university, or medical group, and that the money reaches Israel’s treasury within 48 hours. 18. He says this structure creates a "double mitzvah," because the bond supports both Israel and the donor’s chosen cause. 19. The conversation is an interview with direct questions, long responses, and a serious, advocacy-driven tone. 20. People interested in Israel Bonds, Jewish philanthropy, and diaspora leadership will get the most from it; listeners looking for light entertainment may skip it.

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