Rupert Murdoch and Howard Rubenstein |
MUSEUM
OF JEWISH HERITAGE
Rupert Murdoch
Praises His
PR Exec Howard Rubenstein
Story
and Photos By Tim Boxer
 OWARD
RUBENSTEIN, the
quintessential PR professional, usually takes a back seat and lets
his clients bask in the spotlight. But this was Howard’s time to
shine as the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the
Holocaust honored him at the Waldorf-Astoria, raising $1.2 million.
New York Post
owner Rupert Murdoch was delighted “to play PR man for the
ultimate PR man and to put in a rather uncomfortable position the
man who has gotten me out of them for more than 25 years.”
Duchess of York
Sarah Ferguson |
Calling Howard “Mr. New
Yorker,” Sen. Charles Schumer noted that the publicist
never raises his voice. “He stays one nice guy.”
More than 500 guests
applauded in agreement, including museum president Alfred
Gottschalk, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, Police Commissioner Bernard
Kerik, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
Also Mayor Rudy Giuliani
who said, “I represent the two people in the city whom Howard does
not represent.”
Museum chairman Robert
Morgenthau talked about current efforts to expand the museum.
Real estate developer Larry
Silverstein, who recently acquired the World Trade Center,
biggest building in the city, told Morgenthau, “I’ll support
you…as long as you keep it under 110 stories.”
Real estate
tycoon Irving Schneider |
City Council Speaker Peter
Vallone revealed that during the Second World War his father
refused to buy a certain property in the Catskills because it had a
restrictive clause that prevented him from selling to Jews.
Murdoch recalled that his
father “was disgusted with the British for bombing ships that were
bringing Jewish refugees to Palestine.”
That’s why, he said, his
global media company, from the beginning, “has been supportive of
the Jewish national cause.”
New
York District Attorney
Robert Morgenthau |
His faith in the great
potential of Israel, Murdoch said, is evidenced by NDS, his digital
television technology company based in Jerusalem, which has grown
from 20 to 600 employees in the last ten years.
“I have always believed
in the future of Israel and the goals of the international Jewish
community,” he said.
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