Dr. Yossi Olmert, brother of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and scholar on Middle East issues, will be the featured speaker for the annual Goldstein Lecture to be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 29, in the Yockey Family Community Room of the Olsen Student Center, 3609 Peters Avenue.
Olmert’s address will be entitled “A Middle East Update: An Israeli Perspective.”

Aside from his lecture on the Morningside campus, Olmert will also discuss the topic of Israeli-Palestinian issues during the 8 p.m. Shabbat Service at Congregation Beth Shalom, 815 38th Street, on Friday, March 30.

The Goldstein Lecture is co-sponsored by Morningside’s Academic and Cultural Arts Series (ACAS) and the Jewish Federation of Sioux City. The Goldstein Lectures are made possible through a permanent endowment provided by the Harold and Bernice Goldstein Foundation.

Olmert’s address at the Shabbat Service is sponsored by Congregation Beth Shalom and the Jewish Federation of Sioux City.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Olmert is an expert on the modern Middle East, Islamic militants, terrorism, and Palestinian issues. He is a journalist, author, and former Israeli advisor, having participated in the Madrid peace conference of 1991 and on a delegation for peace talks to Syria.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Hebrew University and received his doctorate from the prestigious London School of Economics. Olmert has taught at Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University, Cornell University, City College New York, and York University in Toronto and is a frequent lecturer on Middle-Eastern issues at American universities and colleges.

Olmert formerly held several senior positions in the Israelis’ government, including director of communication for Prime Minister Shamir and policy advisor to Defense Minister Arens. He has authored three books and has had numerous articles published concerning Middle-Eastern and Israeli political subjects. He is currently based in New York City, where he works as an advisor to various organizations such as The Israel Project and The Middle East Forum.