Cosmetics Heir May Lead Jewish Groups
Ronald Lauder, the billionaire heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics fortune and a former Reagan administration official, has been nominated to become the next president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Lauder was nominated by a selection committee. A formal vote ratifying the selection is expected in February despite the complaints of some liberal Jewish leaders who say Lauder’s conservative views are out of step with the majority of American Jews, who tend toward liberal positions.
The Presidents Conference includes 55 leading American Jewish groups and acts as the Jewish community’s national and international voice on Israel and other Middle East issues.
Lauder, 54, is president of the Jewish National Fund, a position he assumed two years ago. A friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lauder served as an assistant secretary of defense under Reagan and as U.S. ambassador to Austria. He later ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City on the Conservative Party line.
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