Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)
Gettler Family Foundation Makes $1 Million Grant to JINSA to fund Benjamin Gettler Annual International Policy Trip
I wanted to share the following announcement about a significant grant the Gettler Family Foundation made to JINSA in order to fund US international policy missions. Ben Gettler was a Past President of the JCRC, Chairman of the Jewish Hospital, and founder and first President of The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati. We are pleased to see his passion for international relations and battling antisemitism live on through the Gettler Family Foundation.
The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) and the Cincinnati Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), part of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, are excited to announce the initiation of the Benjamin Gettler Annual International Policy Trip, thanks to a very generous $1 million grant from the Gettler Family Foundation.
Beginning in 2018, JINSA will arrange missions of high-level retired senior American military officers and civilian national security experts to countries that are important to US national security and/or the US-Israel relationship. Upon completion of each trip, the group will share its findings and recommendations with policymakers and opinion leaders in Washington, D.C. and across the country.
Benjamin Gettler previously served as Chairman of JINSA, and was one of the organization’s most active and influential leaders. As national Chairman, he conferred with the heads of government and military leaders in numerous countries including Israel, Turkey, India, Ethiopia, and Uzbekistan on ways to strengthen U.S. national security by bolstering ties with its allies around the world.
“Gettler was JINSA’s Chairman from 1994-1998. Those were the years when JINSA’s bedrock foundation was laid; the foundation upon which today’s JINSA is built. Ben’s knowledge, leadership skills, and ability to speak to the highest levels of national policy makers were very special,” said JINSA Chairman David Steinmann.
“On behalf of JINSA and all of our supporters, I’d like to express our deepest thanks to the Trustees of the Gettler Family Foundation, Ben’s wife Dee, and their children, Thomas, Benjamin, Gail, Jorian, and John for their tremendous generosity,” said JINSA President and CEO Dr. Michael Makovsky. “I am excited to begin working on this new program, which will both successfully advance our mission and properly honor Ben’s legacy.”
JINSA also thanks Dr. Michael Rapp, a member of the organization’s Board of Directors and JCRC Executive Director Emeritus, for his tremendous assistance with this grant.
In addition to his activities with JINSA, Gettler made diverse and far reaching contributions to Cincinnati’s philanthropic, business, civic, and educational communities. He was President and CEO of Vulcan International Corporation, Chairman of the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees, Chairman of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, Chairman of Cincinnati Transit Company, and Past President of the JCRC. Gettler was Chairman of the Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati, and a founder and the first president of The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati. He also served on the Boards of PNC Bank and the Cincinnati and Southern Railway.
“Ben Gettler was a man with an expansive personality, unlimited imagination, clear and goal oriented vision, and boundless energy,” said Rapp. “He was a true and loyal friend.”
