Philanthropist Liz Hirsh Naftali Talks About New Political Podcast, Advocacy For Her Great Niece And Other Hamas-Held Hostages And Why There Is “Nothing There” In GOP Hunter Biden Queries

Ted Johnson
·7-min read

Liz Hirsh Naftali, the Los Angeles-based commercial real estate investor and philanthropist, has taken on a high-profile role in recent weeks as an advocate for the release of her great niece, held hostage by Hamas, as well as others still held captive.

The high profile Democratic donor, who also has been in the spotlight as House Republicans investigate Hunter Biden, also has launched a new podcast.

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After hosting many fundraising events, she keyed in on a new idea, a podcast that will help “democratize our politicians,” with the latest episode of The Capitol Coffee Connection featuring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“My goal was to make it that you could get to learn who they were without having to pay, and you could be in your home or anywhere and learn about all of these leaders” Naftali told Deadline.

She added, “What happened was, when I was doing these events, whoever the leader was or whoever was running for election, he or she or they would give their 10 or 15 minute stump speech, and then they would answer whatever questions came from the audience. And then it would be over and … there would be no opportunity to get to know who they were.”

The conversations include guests such as Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who talked about her love of hip hop, and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) recalled learning English as a child through comic books. The show has featured one Republican, Oklahoma City mayor David Holt, who chatted about coming from the Osage Nation and performing in Shakespeare in the Park.

The one-on-one interviews may not break news in the frenetic political cycle, but Naftali said that isn’t the point. Fundraising Q&As often can be platforms for donors to express their own opinions (of to show off their own knowledge), but Naftali recalled times she tried to steer the conversation to something different. She pointed to an event with Karen Bass, now mayor of Los Angeles.

Naftali said that she asked Bass questions such as “what are her likes, what kind of high school she went to and how her parents were and things of that nature. And people at the end were like, ‘Thank you so much. We really got to know who she is.'”

Stampede Ventures is producing the series through its podcasting division. In the Pelosi episode, she talks about raising her children and grandchildren, and of her favorite recipe for chocolate mousse.

The chats “are more of a conversation than just throwing out random questions,” she said. “So while I am doing it, I am really trying to listen and asking them to contribute more and more, which I think is hard for leaders because there is so much judgment and there is so much negative energy. So my goal and our goal of this podcast is to actually put positive energy and to have people get to know who are leaders are.”

Naftali is currently in Israel where she has been advocating for the release of hostages still held by Hamas since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks from Gaza. In numerous media appearances, Naftali talked of her own great niece, 4-year-old Abigail Mor Eden.Hamas terrorists killed both of her parents, Naftali’s niece and her husband, and Abigail crawled out from under her father’s body and then went to a neighbor’s home, but she was later taken hostage there. Abigail was held in captivity until Nov. 26, when she was in the first group of hostages released by Hamas as part of an initial four-day cease-fire deal. “What she endured was unthinkable,” President Joe Biden said on the day of her release. Abigail’s two siblings had locked themselves in a closet after witnessing their parents’ murders, and they survived.

In the days afterward, Naftali said she started to advocate on Capitol Hill and other cities for the release of her great niece and other hostages, eventually joining with other families who had relatives being held.

“We met with people on both sides of the aisle,” she said, including Republicans like Steve Scalise, Marco Rubio and Susan Collins, and far left lawmakers like Jamaal Bowman and Summer Lee, as well as members of the House and Senate Foreign Relations committees.

“They basically were opportunities for people to share their family stories, what happened on that day and who their hostages were,” she said, adding that they then started doing more press appearances “so we just kept putting on the pressure.”

“We were getting no information, and one of the ways we thought would benefit the American public, international public, for the Israelis, was to really tell her story as one of the lead stories, because it is so unique to have a little child who is an orphan and kidnapped and so terrible and horrific,” she said.

Abigail, who celebrated her 4th birthday in captivity, has been reunited with her siblings. “Their one hope was to have their sister back,” Naftali said. “So with all the tragedy, the one shining beautiful light is that Abigail came home to them — not to their home. Their home was destroyed. But came back to the family. Again, the family was destroyed because the mother and father were killed. But they have this beautiful aunt and uncle who they will live with. They have an incredible extended family, amazing grandparents…It’s tragic, it’s horrible, but that’s the miracle here. That’s the hope.”

Naftali said that amid the tragedy in her family, she felt “empowered” to take on the role of public advocate for the hostages. “What I realized was that if we could save Abigail and save hostages, that we could at least bring back some family to people who lost so much,” she said.

More than 130 hostages are still unaccounted for, she said, “meaning we know they were taken. We don’t know anything about them.” One of the things they advocate for is for the Red Cross to go in and see the the hostages and check in on them.

Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, there have been pro-Palestinian protests around the U.S. over Israel’s response, something that has split Democrats and further polarized political discourse.

But Naftali said that she and other hostage families “don’t talk about what the policy is, of what any country should do, or what leaders should do. We really are just talking about this humanity of bringing these people home to their loved ones. So in that, I think it is really trying to share with the world and put pressure on the international world, the UN, the leaders, but to understand on what happened on that day. Because if we don’t talk about what happened, people [tend] to pass over it and not understand the severity of 3,000 terrorists coming in and then murdering and then kidnapping folks.”

Before Oct. 7, Naftali also was in the public spotlight as part of House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer’s (R-KY) investigation Hunter Biden, a potential prelude to impeachment proceedings against the president. Comer issued a subpoena for her deposition testimony last month, after the committee had identified her as the purchaser of at least one piece of the younger Biden’s artwork. Comer said that Naftali’s role in the purchase and her position on President Joe Biden’s Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad “raise the committee’s concerns.”

Naftali said, “I’ve fully cooperated with everything they have asked of me, which whatever there is public is public. But it continues to be that there really is nothing there.” She said that as she advocated on Capitol Hill for the hostages’ release, “not one person” has asked about the Hunter Biden artwork purchase.

“What I will say is I really met with amazing leaders on both sides,” she said. “…The amount of support for hostage relief and support of these families is beautiful, and that is the focus.”

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