In Memoriam: Barbi Weinberg 1929 - 2024
Dec 12, 2024
Founder and Chairman Emerita, The Washington Institute
Washington, D.C. - It is with profound sadness that the Directors, Trustees, Fellows and Staff of The Washington Institute join in mourning the passing of the trailblazing founder of our organization, Barbi Weinberg.
“Barbi Weinberg was a true inspiration,” said Institute President Moses Libitzky and Chairman Jay Bernstein. “The Washington Institute – now about to celebrate its fortieth anniversary -- owes its existence to the perseverance, imagination and pioneering spirit of this far-sighted, generous and indomitable leader.”
The Institute opened its doors in February 1985, with Barbi serving as its inaugural president and then chairman. Under her leadership, the fledgling organization soon made a huge impact on the “think tank” establishment in Washington, hosting not only senior officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations but also leaders from Israel and across the Arab world. Through it all, Barbi animated the life of the Institute by advocating principles that remain at the core of the Institute’s work today – that America is a force for good in the Middle East and that a strong, vibrant U.S.-Israel relationship serves American national interest.
“Barbi was an innovative thinker, indefatigable doer and selfless, natural leader,” said Dr. Robert Satloff, the Institute’s Segal Executive Director and Howard P. Berkowitz Chair in U.S. Middle East Policy. “She embraced the simple but powerful concept that ideas matter and she gave meaning to that concept by building an institution that valued knowledge, expertise and experience. To her great credit, the values she instilled in our earliest days remain those that still guide everything we do a generation later.”
Barbi Weinberg had already made her mark on her local Los Angeles community before turning to the national and international stage with the founding of the Institute. In 1973, she was chosen to lead the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, becoming the first woman to oversee a major Jewish federation in America.
Throughout her life, Barbi was half of a remarkable couple. Together with her husband of 71 years, Larry Weinberg – a World War II hero, successful entrepreneur, and towering figure in the growth and development of the U.S.-Israel relationship who passed away on New Year’s Day, 2019 – they built a legacy that gave them more pride than any of their communal or institutional achievements: a family that today numbers in the dozens, including her twenty-four great-grandchildren.
The Washington Institute extends its deepest condolences to the entire Weinberg family. May Barbi Weinberg’s memory be a blessing for generations to come.
Media Contact: Anna Brown, 202-230-9550, email.
About The Washington Institute: The Institute is an independent, nonpartisan research institution funded exclusively by U.S. citizens that seeks to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them. Drawing on the research of its fellows and the experience of its policy practitioners, the Institute promotes informed debate and scholarly research on U.S. policy in the region.