2025-10-23 01:28:PM <br/> Tags: #AmericanJewry #organization #KeyOrganizations #Lobby ![[image-155.png|680x183]] # Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations - The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, also called the Conference of Presidents, the President's Conference or just the Conference, is the umbrella organization representing the ~50 largest pro-Israel American Jewish organizations. - The Conference of Presidents' self reported top priority is to "advance the U.S.-Israel special relationship." - The Conference, which considers itself the "voice of American Jewry," is the bridge between the Israeli government, American Jewry, and the U.S. government. - While he was Conference of Presidents Chairman, rabbi [[Alexander Schindler]] told an Israeli magazine in 1976 "The President's Conference and its members have been instruments of official governmental Israeli policy." (Mearsheimer and Walt 2007, 121) #### Founding - The Conference of Presidents was formed in the mid 1950s (1954-56) to unite the many American Jewish organizations under one umbrella organization. - The impetus for creating the Conference came from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, specifically Israel's Ambassador to the United States, [[Abba Eban]], beginning around 1951. - The Conference's formation was expedited by Israeli urgency following the [[Qibya Massacre]] and the [[1956 Suez War]]. - The Conference was formalized and given its name in 1959. - The primary founders of the Conference were: - [[Nahum Goldmann]], the leader of the [[World Jewish Congress]] - Chairman of the Conference from 1955-59. - [[Philip Klutznick]], the leader of [[B'nai B'rith]] - Chairman of the Conference from 1959-60. - The Conference began with 15 founding member organizations. #### The Organizations - The Conference is a constituent-coalition of the roughly 50 largest American Jewish organizations. - The most notable of those organizations are: 1. [[Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)]] (formerly [[United Jewish Appeal (UJA)]]) 2. [[American Friends of Likud]] 3. [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] 4. [[American Jewish Congress]] 5. [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)]] 6. [[AIPAC]] 7. [[American Zionist Movement (AZM)]] 8. [[AMIT]] 9. [[ADL]] 10. [[B'nai B'rith]] 11. [[Central Conference of American Rabbis]] 12. [[Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA)]] 13. [[Friends of the IDF (FIDF)]] 14. [[Hadassah]] 15. [[Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)]] 16. [[Hillel International]] 17. [[Israeli-American Council]] 18. [[JCC Association of North America]] 19. [[Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)]] 20. [[Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA)]] 21. [[Jewish Labor Committee (JLC)]] 22. [[Jewish National Fund]] 23. [[Jewish Women International]] 24. [[Mercaz USA]] 25. [[Na'amat]] 26. [[National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)]] 27. [[Rabbinical Assembly]] 28. [[Rabbinical Council of America (RCA)]] 29. [[Religious Zionists of America (Mizrachi)]] 30. [[UJA-Federation of New York]] 31. [[Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)]] 32. [[Orthodox Union]] 33. [[Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO)]] 34. [[World Zionist Organization]] 35. [[Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)]] 36. [[Israel Bonds]] (listed as adjunct organization) *There are a total of 53 current member organizations, these 36 are the most relevant to this project. * #### Activity - The Conference is a significant force in behind-the-scenes D.C. lobbying. - The Conference organizes letter writing campaigns, media campaigns, congressional lobbying, executive branch lobbying, rallies, coalition building, etc. - The Conference's primary mission is to step in to pressure the White House when an administration makes any action against Israeli interest. (Mearsheimer and Walt 2007, 165) - The Conference is not registered as a foreign agent under FARA. *They are Americans just like the rest of us!* - In 1992, the Conference was instrumental in securing a $10 billion U.S. loan guarantee for Israel amid opposition from the U.S. president, [[George H.W Bush]]. - Bush credited his defeat on the [power of the Jewish lobby](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/conference-of-presidents-of-major-american-jewish-organizations#:~:text=power%20of%20the%20Jewish%20%22lobby.%22). - The Conference convenes an annual "Leadership Mission to Israel." - The annual mission involves the leaders of the Conference's member organizations traveling to Israel to meet with Israeli government officials and coordinate diplomacy/propaganda/fundraising. - At the 2016 mission to Israel, Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] thanked the audience for, "taking the message of Israel far and wide." - In 2004, the Conference partnered with the [[Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)]] to form the [[Secure Community Network (SCN)]]. - The SCN is a public-private partnership tasked with protecting all Jewish communities in the United States and Canada. - The SCN is funded with hundreds of millions of dollars in grants from the US government's Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). - The NSGP, the funding mechanism for the SCN, was itself formed after lobbying by the [[Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)]]. - *The US government pays for special protection for all Jews. Jewish day schools, community centers, synagogues, etc. - After [[October 7th]], the Conference of Presidents and the [[Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)]] organized the November 14, 2023, *March For Israel*. - Almost 300,00 people attended the *March For Israel*, much more than expected. - Jewish groups were paying pro-Israel students to attend the rally. - The [[Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC)]] paid $250 to any pro-Israel student who would attend the rally. - The ICC is something like an Israeli intelligence organization. It surveilles U.S. college campuses on behalf of the Israeli [[Ministry of Strategic Affairs]]. - The Conference works with the [[ADL]] and [[Hillel International]] to create "joint framework[s] of recommendation" for college administrators. - The framework devised for 2025 included several demands: - Universities should appoint Title six and seven coordinators to monitor college administration's adherence to the Civil Rights Act. *Jewish hall monitors* - Universities need to combat "exclusion of Jewish students." - Universities need to conduct regular surveys to document antisemitic incidents. - Universities must monitor antisemitism both in person and online. - Faculty must be purged of antisemitic and anti-Israel bias. ---- - Immediately after the [[1973 Yom Kippur War]] broke out the Conference convened an emergency meeting to coordinate American Jewry's response. - Leaders of the Conference, including chairman Jacob Stein, met with [[Max Fisher]], President Nixon's top Jewish liaison. - The Conference joined the unprecedented Jewish lobbying pressure on Nixon to send emergency aid to Israel. - Their efforts resulted in Operation Nickel Grass, the largest military airlift of all time. - The Conference has steadily become more right wing and hawkish since its founding. - The Israeli government under [[Yitzhak Shamir]] made concerted efforts to forge the leadership of the Conference to its liking. - To this effect Shamir's Chief of Staff Yossi Ben-Aharon facilitated the onboarding of hardliner [[Malcolm Hoenlein]] as CEO and executive vice chairman in 1986. (Mearsheimer and Walt 2007, 126) - Hoenlein spent 33 years in his position, much longer than any of the Conference's other chairmen. - The Conference, under chairman [[Mortimer Zuckerman]], was heavily involved in lobbying for the 2003 [[Iraq War]]. (Mearsheimer and Walt 2007, 241) - From 2002-2003 Zuckerman was notably loud in his public backing for a U.S. invasion of Iraq. - Zuckerman peddled the idea that Saddam Hussein #### Notable Figures - [[Nahum Goldmann]] - Founder - Chairman 1955-1959 - [[Philip Klutznick]] - Founder - Chairman 1959-1960 - [[Label A. Katz]] - Chairman - 1960-1961 - Rabbi [[Israel Miller]] - Chairman - 1961-1963 and 1974-1975 - [[Joachim Prinz]] - Chairman - 1965-1967 - Rabbi [[Herschel Schacter]] - Chairman - 1967-1969 - Rabbi [[Alexander Schindler]] - Chairman - 1976-1978 - [[Malcolm Hoenlein]] - CEO and Vice Chairman - 1986-2019 - [[Morris Abram]] - Chairman - 1986-1988 - [[Seymour Reich]] - Chairman - 1989-1990 - [[Shoshana Cardin]] - Chair - 1991-1992 - [[Ronald Lauder]] - Chairman - 1999-2001 - [[Mortimer Zuckerman]] - Chairman - 2001-2003 - [[James Tisch]] - Chairman - 2003-2005 - [[Alan Solow]] - Chairman - 2009-2011 - [[Robert Sugarman]] - Chairman - 2013-2015 - [[Arthur Stark]] - Chairman - 2018-2021 - [[Dianne Lob]] - Chair - 2021-2023 - [[William Daroff]] - CEO - 2019-present - [[Betsy Korn]] - Chair - 2025-present #### References - Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. _“Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.”_ Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_of_Presidents_of_Major_American_Jewish_Organizations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conference_of_Presidents_of_Major_American_Jewish_Organizations). - Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. _“Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.”_ Jewish Virtual Library. [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/conference-of-presidents-of-major-american-jewish-organizations](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/conference-of-presidents-of-major-american-jewish-organizations). - Rossinow, Doug. “‘The Edge of the Abyss’: The Origins of the Israel Lobby, 1949–1954.” _Modern American History_ 1, no. 3 (2018): 365–388. Cambridge University Press. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-american-history/article/edge-of-the-abyss-the-origins-of-the-israel-lobby-19491954/E1690BDB5CA87C66B2B65D12CA1D716A](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-american-history/article/edge-of-the-abyss-the-origins-of-the-israel-lobby-19491954/E1690BDB5CA87C66B2B65D12CA1D716A) - Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. _“Member Organizations.”_ [https://conferenceofpresidents.org/member-organizations/](https://conferenceofpresidents.org/member-organizations/). - Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. _“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Addressed the Opening of the Conference of Presidents 42nd Leadership Mission to Israel.”_ [https://conferenceofpresidents.org/prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-addressed-the-opening-of-the-conference-of-presidents-42nd-leadership-mission-to-israel/#:~:text=The%20proven%20and%20effective%20voice,facing%20Israel%20and%20world%20Jewry](https://conferenceofpresidents.org/prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-addressed-the-opening-of-the-conference-of-presidents-42nd-leadership-mission-to-israel/). - Anti-Defamation League; Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations; Hillel International; Jewish Federations of North America. _“ADL, Conference of Presidents, Hillel International, and Jewish Federations Call for Universities to Address Persistent Campus Antisemitism.”_ August 18, 2025. [https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-conference-presidents-hillel-international-and-jewish-federations-call](https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-conference-presidents-hillel-international-and-jewish-federations-call). - Secure Community Network. _“Secure Community Network (SCN).”_ Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Community_Network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Community_Network). - Jewish Telegraphic Agency. _“Remembering Yom Kippur War: U.S. Jews Mobilized for Israel with Prayers, Money, and Lobbying.”_ September 21, 1998. [https://www.jta.org/archive/remembering-yom-kippur-war-u-s-jews-mobilized-for-israel-with-prayers-money-and-lobbying-2](https://www.jta.org/archive/remembering-yom-kippur-war-u-s-jews-mobilized-for-israel-with-prayers-money-and-lobbying-2). - Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen M. Walt. _The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy_. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007, 121, 126, 165, 241. - Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. _“Past Chairs of the Conference of Presidents.”_ [https://conferenceofpresidents.org/about/past-chairs/](https://conferenceofpresidents.org/about/past-chairs/). - Waxman, Dov. “From Jerusalem to Baghdad? Israel and the War in Iraq.” _International Studies Perspectives_, (2009): p.16. [https://scispace.com/pdf/from-jerusalem-to-baghdad-israel-and-the-war-in-iraq-3ep9ys7dlm.pdf](https://scispace.com/pdf/from-jerusalem-to-baghdad-israel-and-the-war-in-iraq-3ep9ys7dlm.pdf).