We, the members of the Zionist Women’s Organization in Israel, wish to salute you and thank you for the remarkable work you have been doing for our country.
As founder of UCI in 1991 and now its Chief Executive Officer, you representing millions of Jews and Christians, have provided material information not only on Israel but also on the history and culture of the twenty-two Arab nations that surround it.
You have conducted a wide-educational outreach to all segments of American society by bringing together secular and religious media with those on college campuses, with American government representatives and Israeli Knesset Members.
You coordinated seven major conferences in Washington, introducing experts on the true picture of Israel and the Middle East. You hosted the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on two occasions at festive breakfasts that attracted thousands of people. The UCI co-sponsored the First Jerusalem Summit, a newly formed international think-tank. Simultaneously, you have sponsored numerous press conferences on Capitol Hill, at the National Press Club, and at the National Religious Broadcasters annual conventions. Amazing as all this seems, you also co-sponsored the annual Embassy of Israel Solidarity Seminar in Washington, DC, and the annual pro-Israel KC Gathering.
Aware of your amazing competence and knowledge, three U.S. presidents appointed you to serve on three U.S. Presidential Advisory Councils: the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education and the National Advisory Committee on Education of Handicapped Children.
To say that you, Mrs. Esther Levens, are a true Eishet Chayil, a Woman of Valor, is an understatement. In addition to the above-mentioned activities, you have also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), of the National Council of Jewish Women and of the Republican Jewish Coalition!
You once said that you loved and supported Israel long before “the state was even a state.” You said you started believing in the importance of a Jewish state when you were a young woman in Kansas City working for United Jewish Social Services.
“I realized early on how really vulnerable Jews felt around the world,” you said.
As a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, you worked with the first wave of European refugees here following the Holocaust. You met them at the railroad station and were charged with finding them housing and kosher food.
The work you did with survivors was instrumental in arranging some of the first Yom Ha’Shoah remembrance services in the state of Kansas, leading to your appointment by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
You and your late husband, Vrem, worked together for a variety of causes, and when he passed away in 1983, his causes became yours.
You had worked as a professional for Israel Bonds and said that this experience led to your forming Voices United for Israel, the forerunner of the remarkable United Coalition for Israel. Today, the UCI has convened an alliance of Christian and Jewish organizations to actively work together to generate support for Israel – more than 200 autonomous partner organizations, representing more than 40 million people, making it the largest network of pro-Israel groups in the world!
Our dear superwoman of valor! How can we thank you?