Join us at UCLA on June 8th, 2026, for the Younes Nazarian Memorial Lecture, presented by Dr. Ephraim Sneh, Israeli statesman, physician, and retired Brigadier General of the Israel Defense Forces.
Monday, June 8, 20266:00 PM - 7:30 PM (Pacific Time)The UCLA Luskin Conference CenterCentennial Ballroom (Sections C & D)425 Westwood Plaza
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Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Middle East Development
About the Talk
Dr. Ephraim Sneh is a legendary figure in Israel. From serving as chief medical officer in the elite commando team that miraculously rescued the Israeli airline hijacking hostages in Entebbe 50 years ago, to Brigadier General in the IDF, and later as Minister of Transportation, Minister of Health and Deputy Minister of Defense, Dr. Sneh has played key roles in Israel's history for the last six decades. Today, he devotes his efforts to making Israel safer and better aligned with Middle Eastern countries by achieving the two-state solution, paving the way to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. Dr. Sneh will speak about all these topics and the current situation in the Middle East, as he presents the 2026 Younes Nazarian Memorial Lecture.
About the Speaker
Dr. Ephraim Sneh is an Israeli statesman, physician, and a retired Brigadier General of the Israel Defense Forces. He was a member of the Knesset for the Labour Party between 1992 and 2008 and served in several ministerial posts. He has an M.D. from Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine, and he was a Research Fellow at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in Washington, D.C. In 1988, he led the first secret negotiations between Israel and the PLO. In 1992, he was elected to the Knesset for the Israeli Labour Party and served in a number of roles, including as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee; as Minister of Health from June 1994 until 1996; as Deputy Minister of Defence from July 1999 until March 2001; and as Minister of Transportation from March 2001 until October 2002. He initiated the fast railway line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the train from Haifa to the Jordan valley, the train to Carmiel in the north of Israel, and the railway lines to the southern towns of Israel. In 1993, he initiated the strategic alliance with Azerbaijan. In February 2002, Sneh was the first Israeli member of the cabinet to secretly hold an official visit to the UAE, met H.H. Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and established special relations between the two countries. In 2003, in an effort to jump-start the peace process and pave the way back to the Road Map, Sneh co-authored "the Gaza Pilot" plan with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, which encouraged the transfer of control in Gaza to the Palestinians, the development of economic infrastructure, and a crackdown on terror in the area. In March 2006, Sneh was re-elected to the Knesset and served as Chairman of the Labour Parliamentary Faction, and in October 2006, he was again appointed as the Deputy Minister of Defence. He held this position until June 2007. In May 2008, Ephraim Sneh resigned from the Knesset. In 2009, he left active political life. Until January 2023, for 14 years, he served as the chairman of the S. Daniel Abraham Centre for Strategic Dialogue at Netanya Academic College. During the current war, he volunteered to serve as a reserve officer for 400 days in the northern command.
About Younes Nazarian z"l
Younes Nazarian was a prominent businessman and philanthropist who, along with his wife Soraya, supported numerous causes in education and the arts in Los Angeles and in Israel. Their generous contributions helped to establish UCLA's Israel Studies Program and, in 2010, they created a permanent endowment that led to the naming of the university's Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.
Nazarian grew up in an impoverished household in the Jewish ghetto of south Tehran. As teenagers, he and his brother traveled to Israel to support the newly formed country by working in the construction industry. These formative years influenced Younes and cemented his lifelong support for Israel. After returning to Iran, the brothers created a successful construction distribution business. However, the Nazarian family fled Iran during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and made their new home in Los Angeles, where they rebuilt their lives.
In Israel, the Nazarians’ foundation helped to create the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Library at Sapir College and the University of Haifa, and it has supported Haifa University scholarships, the Bezalel Academy of the Arts, the Hebrew University and Israel’s National Library. In 2009, Nazarian was selected among 12 recipients to receive Israel’s highest honor of the torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl. In Los Angeles, their philanthropy has supported the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Performing Arts at Cal State Northridge, the Nazarian Pavilion in Doheny Library at University of Southern California, Beit Midrash at the Milken Community High School, and the Hammer Museum at UCLA.
Younes passed away on March 18th, 2022, at the age of 91. He is survived by his wife, Soraya; four children, David, Shula, Sharon, and Sam; daughters-in-law, Angella and Emina; son-in-law, Fernando; and 11 grandchildren.
DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.
Sponsor(s): Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies