1. Leon Charney was an American real estate tycoon, attorney, author, philanthropist, political pundit, media personality and Jewish cantor.
24 Facts About Leon Charney
1. 2.
Leon Charney lived in Manhattan in New York City, dividing his time between his residences in Tel Aviv and Boca Raton, Florida.
3.
Leon Charney was a graduate of Yeshiva University where he participated in demonstrations to free Soviet Jewry, and Brooklyn Law School.
4.
Leon Charney was best known as a New York real estate baron, but his role as one of the backdoor players integral to sealing the Camp David Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt later emerged.
5.
In 1979, Leon Charney played an important role as the unofficial adviser to former US President Jimmy Carter, most well known for his behind-the-scenes role in the Camp David Accords which created the first comprehensive peace between Israel and Egypt in 1978 and 1979.
6.
Leon Harris Charney was born to a Jewish family in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Morris, a sewing supplies salesman who died at a young age when his son was young, and Sara Charney.
7.
Leon Charney attended Jewish day schools, worked as a counselor at Camp Winsokee, graduated from Yeshiva University in 1960, and from Brooklyn Law School in 1964.
8.
Leon Charney paid for his education in part by singing in synagogues, and by selling sewing machines door-to-door.
9.
Leon Charney became a member of the bar in 1965, and with $200 in the bank started his own law firm representing sports and show-business personalities, including Jackie Mason and Sammy Davis Jr.
10.
Leon Charney became counsel and adviser at age 36 to US Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana, and was his special counsel for six years.
11.
Leon Charney became close to Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel, with whom Charney worked on Israel's initiative to free Soviet Jews and help them emigrate to Israel.
12.
Later, United States President Jimmy Carter asked Leon Charney to help advise him during the Camp David Accords.
13.
Leon Charney refers to his efforts as using "back door channels", and he advised President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.
14.
In 2009, Leon Charney was a featured interviewee in a Harry Hunkele documentary film starring former US President Jimmy Carter entitled Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace which opened in Abu Dhabi in October 2010 at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.
15.
The film's title is actually an opaque reference to Leon Charney himself, considered by many to be the "back door channel" that enabled the Camp David peace to materialize.
16.
In 2014, Leon Charney received an Emmy Award for the television version of the documentary after it aired on PBS.
17.
Via nyctv, The Leon Charney Report began podcasting its audio version on NPR and the audio component began to be nationally syndicated as radio programming.
18.
Leon Charney held an honorary title as the Chairman of the University of Haifa in Israel.
19.
Leon Charney married Israeli-born Tzili Doron and with her he had two twin boys, Mickey and Nati.
20.
Leon Charney had close ties to Israel through his sister Bryna Blumenreich Dryer, who lives in Raanana, Israel along with her children.
21.
In 2003, Leon Charney donated $10 million to NYU Langone Medical Center for a new cardiac wing of the hospital.
22.
Leon Charney is the major benefactor of the University of Haifa's Leon H Charney School of Marine Sciences, for which he reportedly donated more than $10 million in 2007.
23.
Leon Charney received honorary doctorates for his work in peacemaking including those from the University of Haifa, Yeshiva University, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Indianapolis.
24.
Leon Charney received awards from a number of institutions and city governments including the City of New York, City of Bayonne, and the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.