Starbucks' Schultz To Receive Israel Award

SEATTLE - Starbucks Coffee Chairman Howard Schultz will be among 20 business and government leaders honored by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah during ceremonies in Israel next week.

The group includes U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick; and business executives and philanthropists.

Schultz was singled out for his philanthropic and community service work, as well as for building Starbucks into the largest specialty coffee retailer in North America. Schultz established the Starbucks Foundation in 1997 with a $500,000 personal contribution.

Schultz, who is Jewish, will accept the Jerusalem Fund's Israel 50th Anniversary Tribute Award during a visit to Israel next week. The honorees also are scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.