IsraelCast Episode 45

Leah Soibel, a Hispanic American and Israeli, has more than a decade of experience on the ground in Israel, the U.S, and Latin America working with hundreds of global Latino journalists. In 2012, she founded Fuente Latina (FL), the only organization of its kind engaging global Latino media covering Israel and the Middle East in their language and in real-time. The Algemeiner named her on the “Jewish100” list in 2014.

Leah launched Fuente Latina in response to a growing demand from Latino media for greater access to information about Israel and the Middle East in Spanish. She has been bringing millions of Spanish speakers an accurate image of the region through international media events, expert interviews and briefings, as well as helicopter tours. Leah is the go-to expert in Israel on Latino media, due to her access to hundreds of journalists and Latino leaders. She is regularly published in Miami’s El Nuevo Herald and Univision.com, and is frequently interviewed by Spanish media about regional security issues and Iranian influence in Latin America.

She established FL after seven years at The Israel Project; her last two as years there she was TIP’s Spanish Media Program director. Previously she served in intelligence. Leah is a National Security Education Program Fellow and received an Arabic language certificate from the American University of Cairo’s Arabic Language Institute. She has a BA in Middle East History from Dickinson College, an MA in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University, and has completed coursework for a doctorate in political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Leah speaks English, Spanish, Hebrew and Arabic, and reads Portuguese and Farsi.

She splits her time between Jerusalem and Miami. Besides running FL, Leah runs after her two-year old son Zack Pedro.