Andrew Weinstein went to the United Nations 14 months ago, expecting to serve a year as a U.S. public delegate. He planned to do whatever he could to further the Biden administration’s agenda in the multilateral diplomatic arena.
His work evolved as Weinstein became increasingly involved with U.S. efforts to combat rising antisemitism at home and abroad. Right now, he’s not sure when he’ll be back more or less full time at home in Broward.
Even before the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks started the Israel-Hamas war — and unleashed a torrent of antisemitic rhetoric and actions — Weinstein’s government service was extended so he can contribute toward development of a U.N. action plan to combat antisemitism.
When Weinstein arrived at the U.N. in September 2022, he said there was, and still is, a lot of focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And he brought with him an interest on global food insecurity and U.N. efforts on sustainable development.
“Pretty rapidly, as I had started attending meetings and really observing firsthand what was going on there, I noticed impossible-to-miss anti-Israel bias and antisemitism and felt that it would be appropriate for me to do what I could with this platform to work against that and to counter it,” he said. “And so that’s what I’ve done.”
He is part of an interagency U.S. government effort working on antisemitism, and assisted with the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released in May. He conceptualized a major conference that brought current and former U.S. and international leaders who wrestled with antisemitism at the U.N. in February.
Before and after Oct. 7, he has organized other gatherings, put together briefings, attended sessions with state, federal and foreign officials, and addressed multiple groups and organizations.
“He understands the intersection of politics and policy. And he’s in a position to help advance the fight against antisemitism, both within the United States and globally,” said Ted Deutch, former Democratic congressman from Broward and Palm Beach counties and currently CEO of the American Jewish Committee.
After Oct. 7
Within days of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks he was working with Deutch to convene a range of people, including Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the U.N.; Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism; Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s special envoy for combating antisemitism; and leaders of most of the major Jewish organizations to grapple with what was being seen around the world.
“Obviously, antisemitism didn’t begin on October 7th. It’s often referred to as the world’s oldest prejudice. It had been rising for some time,” Weinstein said.
Later he was in Paris, where world envoys convened on the subject. Ten days after the attacks, he spoke about U.S. policy at the U.N.
“Let us be crystal clear: The United States stands with Israel as they defend themselves from terrorism. And we will make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens and defend itself from terrorist attacks effectively, consistent with the rule of law and the law of war,” Weinstein said in his Oct. 17 speech.
Being able to work on combating antisemitism has taken on even greater meaning since Oct. 7, Weinstein said in an interview. “What we’re all seeing is horrific. I think for me, watching it as purely an observer would be much harder than what I’m doing now. … This is quite difficult, but still, I feel like I’m playing a role in accomplishing something that helps move the needle, hopefully, on this.”
As a public delegate, Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement, Weinstein “served as a pivotal interlocutor for the U.S. Delegation in convening the Jewish American community for various engagements” with the ambassador. “From cultural and gastro diplomacy engagements … to roundtable style conversations aimed at combating antisemitism, Public Delegate Weinstein has worked tirelessly to advocate on behalf of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations.”
The cultural and gastro diplomacy included Thomas-Greenfield and Weinstein visiting the iconic Russ & Daughters in Manhattan’s Lower East Side during Jewish American Heritage Month in May, where they ate traditional Jewish food such as herring, latkes, and black and white cookies, and discussed the link between food and culture with the store’s co-owners.
Behind the scenes
Weinstein, 54, is a prominent political player with wide-ranging connections, especially in the Democratic Party, but hasn’t sought the limelight for himself. He has lived in Broward since childhood, but isn’t widely known outside political and legal circles.
Aside from politics, he’s been a behind-the-scenes adviser to families of victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre and to organizations that formed in the aftermath of the shooting. He was a major national fundraiser for President Joe Biden and for former President Barack Obama.
Biden nominated him as one of three public delegates for the last session of the U.N. General Assembly. Weinstein also served as a key liaison to the Jewish community during the rollout of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, an issue that Biden worked on as vice president at the time.
When Weinstein was an Obama-appointed member of the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities, he helped bring the Turnaround Arts initiative to three Broward elementary schools in an effort to narrow the achievement gap and increase student engagement. It was the first Florida school district to participate in the program.
He’s also a past board member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Stoneman Douglas
Weinstein has been heavily active in gun violence prevention efforts and working with families of victims since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.
He was in his Coral Springs law office on Feb. 14, 2018, when the massacre took place in Parkland, where he and his wife have raised their children.
“When you’re in a somewhat busy area frequently you’ll hear sirens or whatever. And so I was sitting there and I heard a siren and then another one and then another one and they just never stopped,” Weinstein said.
The next day, he attended the community vigil in Parkland, where he heard Fred Guttenberg speak 24 hours after his daughter, Jaime, was killed at her school.
“And it was the kind of punch in the gut that I had really just never experienced before. Because it was my community and it was children my own children’s age,” he said. “I couldn’t wrap my head around the horror that this had occurred, that it continues to occur, that had happened in my community.”
The day after, he started working the phones. Within days, he organized a group meeting with the GoFundMe fundraising platform and many family members, and later worked with families and the newly formed March for Our Lives organization to help coordinate distribution of funds.
As March for Our Lives prepared for its mass demonstration in Washington, Weinstein reached out to José Andrés, the world-renowned chef and restaurateur based in Washington, D.C., to help with an event for the families.
Andrés agreed, then wondered during their conversation how March for Our Lives participants would be fed. The result: an Andrés-led effort that in less than two weeks arranged for 60,000 meals for people who showed up in Washington.
In Washington, Weinstein helped facilitate introductions and meetings between March for Our Lives participants and members of Congress. And he arranged meetings for family members of people killed in the massacre with Biden, Obama, and Michelle Obama.
“It’s something I continue to care very passionately about,” he said. “There are obviously moments of heartbreak and sadness, both in the immediacy of these tragic events and when you reflect on them. I would say with regard to Parkland, even though the years go on, there are constant reminders for most particularly the families who were directly impacted by this, but for the entire community, that things will never be the same.”
Deutch represented Parkland and Coral Springs in Congress at the time.
“From that awful Valentine’s Day forward, Andrew has worked in a million different ways behind the scenes to be supportive of the families, to help them in their efforts to honor the memories of their loved ones by meaningfully impacting politics and the community,” Deutch said. “He doesn’t want anything from anyone. That day was incredibly difficult for him, and he really has invested all of himself since, trying to help the families, to guide the student survivors, and working across all levels of government to try to do something positive.”
Supporting presidents
Weinstein was an early Obama supporter, at a point when most people involved in Florida Democratic politics were supporting Hillary Clinton for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
He was a host for an early Obama campaign fundraiser in Parkland in 2007 and became a campaign bundler. (That term comes from an era in which people raising money for a candidate would actually physically bundle checks.)
During Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, James Taylor performed at Weinstein’s house for a fundraising event for the president.
Before the 2016 campaign, when most of the Democratic Party establishment was lining up behind Clinton, Weinstein said he thought Biden would be a great presidential candidate. After Biden opted out of the race, Weinstein worked for Clinton’s election.
And as the 2020 presidential campaign approached, Weinstein was an early supporter of Biden’s candidacy, even when many other leading Democrats were looking for a different standard-bearer for the party and many pundits were writing off the former vice president’s campaign.
Weinstein was one of 35 Florida bundlers who raised at least $100,000 for Biden’s 2020 campaign.
As a “special government employee,” he’s allowed some political activity. “I wouldn’t say that I’m completely disengaged from it but certainly there are restrictions that prevent me from being fully engaged,” he said.
He has been chair of the Lawyers Council of the Democratic National Committee, co chair of Lawyers for Biden, finance chair of the Florida Democratic Party and a member of Biden’s and Obama’s national finance committees.
Not running
While Weinstein operates largely behind the scenes, his parents and grandfather were much more in the public eye.
His father, Peter Weinstein, was a longtime member of the Florida Senate, Broward circuit court judge, and the chief judge before retiring. His mother, Barbara Weinstein, was the founder and retired CEO of the early child care and education nonprofit Family Central.
His grandfather, Moses Weinstein, was speaker of the New York Assembly (that state’s version of the state House of Representatives) and later an appeals court judge. His uncle was a New York state senator before becoming a judge.
Deutch called his friend “a model for what someone who decides to get involved in politics can actually accomplish.” Though Weinstein grew up around politics, he doesn’t see himself ever running for office.
Efforts like bringing Turnaround Arts to Broward, working to combat gun violence and supporting Stoneman Douglas families, and trying to tackle antisemitism are things that have “filled me with a sense of accomplishment and purpose.”
Andrés, the chef Weinstein called about March for Our Lives, is founder of World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides meals after natural and man-made disasters.
“In a world where suffering and tragedy seem to cast a dark shadow over progress and hope, Andrew is a bright light shining on the solutions that move humanity forward,” Andrés said via email. “I greatly admire the urgency with which he is able to build consensus and the political will to combat the toughest issues we face — from gun violence to food insecurity to antisemitism.”
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Facebook, Threads.net and Post.news.
