Josh Block to head The Israel Project

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Josh Block, a communications, foreign policy and political strategist who has been involved in national politics and policy for nearly 20 years, is the next head of the nonpartisan The Israel Project.

Block, 39, will take over as CEO and president in September, replacing Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, who resigned several months ago.

“Josh is a gifted leader with strong credentials whose record of pro-Israel advocacy in many different arenas will provide TIP with exactly what it needs,” TIP board of directors Chair Lennert J. Leader said in a statement.

Block said he was “excited to be joining TIP at a moment of great consequence for Israel, the Middle East and for America, globally and in the region.”

“The Israel Project is a global leader in providing facts and policy insight to the media, policymakers, diplomats and the general public, on issues vital to the US-Israel relationship, Middle East policy and Israel’s place in the world,” he said.

“Josh is among the most respected voices in the pro-Israel community and a real fighter on issues vital to all Americans who care about a strong and secure Jewish state of Israel. I wish TIP well under its new leadership and in its work to strengthen the US-Israel relationship,” said US Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a member of the organization’s bipartisan board of advisers.

Block previously worked at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, where for nearly a decade he was the spokesman and director of strategic communications. He has worked in Democratic politics and has his own consulting firm. He is a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.

TIP was founded by Mizrahi, Margo Volftsun and Sheryl Schwartz in 2003.