2025-07-08 21:57 <br/> Tags: #organization #KeyOrganizations #WorldJewry #Lobby #EarlyZionism ![[image-188.png|500x333]] # World Jewish Congress (WJC) *This page is held in the American Jewry folder because the WJC was founded in the United States and is headquartered in New York.* - The World Jewish Congress is a global Jewish organization that intends to represent all of global Jewry through an elected legislative body that meets in grand "congresses" around every four years. - The WJC has close to 100 member countries and dozens of member organizations. - Delegates to the World Jewish Congress pass policy on behalf of collective world Jewry. - The World Jewish Congress raises money, passes policy, drafts reports, lobbies governments, and extorts governments on behalf of Israel and the Jews of the world. - The World Jewish Congress is also a useful tool of indirect statecraft for Israel. - The WJC often acts as an independent diplomatic body on behalf of Israeli interests is places Israel lacks good relations or influence. - *If one organization had to be chosen to best define "world Jewry," it would be the World Jewish Congress.* #### Founding and Early History - By 1936, planning for the formation of a 'congress' to represent world Jewry had been ongoing for ~10 years. - Notable Jews like, [[Julian Mack]], Leo Motzkin, and [[Stephen S. Wise]] had been meeting since the late 1920s to discuss the idea for the WJC. - Prior to 1936 a number of "preparatory" meetings were held to simulate the structure of WJC proceedings. - The World Jewish Congress was founded in 1936 in Switzerland. *Prior to Israeli statehood, Switzerland was a major hub of Zionist activity. * - [[Nahum Goldmann]] and [[Stephen S. Wise]] were the primary WJC founders. Both were American. *Goldmann was not American born, but had been operating from the U.S.* - [[Stephen S. Wise]] was a founder of the [[American Jewish Congress]] in 1918. The WJC was formed in direct relation to the American Jewish Congress. - Of the 230 delegates to the first World Jewish Congress in 1936, 52 were American. - The WJC was founded to oppose the rise of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. - The WJC was formed to coordinate the already ongoing Jewish opposition to Germany, which began immediately after Adolf Hitler ascended to the Chancellorship on January 30, 1933. - The WJC helped to lead Jewish-backed boycotts of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. - The WJC was formed as a "decidedly activist and political body, rather than a philanthropic one, for the express purpose of representing Jews around the world." - In 1941, the WJC and the [[American Jewish Congress]] formed a think tank called the Institute of Jewish Affairs. - The Institute of Jewish Affairs was reconstituted as the [[Institute for Jewish Policy Research]] in 1996. - The WJC's Jacob Robinson was the founder of the Institute of Jewish Affairs. --- - During WWII, the first information about alleged Nazi plans to exterminate all of Europe's Jews came from the WJC's lead representative in Geneva, Switzerland, Gerhart Riegner. - In August, 1942, Riegner sent the famous "Riegner Telegram," which purported that Hitler planned to execute all the Jews under his control in "one blow." - The Riegner Telegram is considered one of the earliest pieces of "proof" regarding the holocaust. - The Riegner Telegram spurred American Jewry into a fierce lobbying campaign on President Roosevelt. - Many of the top Jewish leaders of the era worked together to pressure the FDR administration to legitimize and react to the allegations of Nazi atrocities. - [[Stephen S. Wise]] - [[American Jewish Congress]] and [[World Jewish Congress]] - [[Abba Hillel Silver]] - [[United Israel Appeal]] and [[United Jewish Appeal (UJA)]] - [[Henry Monsky]] - [[B'nai B'rith]] - [[Israel Goldstein]] - Synagogue Council of America and [[Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)]] - [[Maurice Wertheim]] - [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] - [[Adolph Held]] - [[Jewish Labor Committee (JLC)]] - The WJC was directly involved in the Nuremberg Trials. - The WJC's star attorney Jacob Robinson, had pivotal influence on the aggressive prosecution of Nazi leaders at Nuremberg. - In April, 1945, the WJC sent a delegation to the San Francisco Conference, the founding conference of the United Nations. - At the conference, the WJC lobbied for a Jewish national homeland in Palestine while also pushing for an "international bill of rights," which would protect racial, national, religious, and linguistic minorities "of all countries without distinction." - [As stated](https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/85th-anniversary/the-world-jewish-congress-the-league-of-nations-and-the-united-nations#:~:text=In%201947%2C%20the%20WJC%20became%20the%20first%20Jewish%20organization%20to%20receive%20consultative%20status%20with%20the%20UN%20Economic%20and%20Social%20Council%2C%20thereby%20gaining%20judicial%2C%20public%2C%20and%20international%20authorization%20of%20its%20singular%20status%20as%20the%20representative%20body%20for%20world%20Jewry.) on the WJC website, "In 1947, the WJC became the first Jewish organization to receive consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, thereby gaining judicial, public, and international authorization of its singular status as the representative body for world Jewry." - In 1948, Gerhart Riegner, as "de-facto WJC secretary general," became highly involved in the UN's conference of NGOs. - His activity within the conference of NGOs began in 1948. He eventually became the president of the conference of NGOs in 1953. - Today, the United Nations' conference of NGOs includes: the WJC, [[B'nai B'rith]], [[Jewish Women International]], [[National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)]], and [[World Union for Progressive Judaism]]. - The WJC was highly active in drafting UN "international law" and "human rights" doctrine in the late 40s and 50s. - The WJC used is UN position to lobby for the 1947 [[UN Partition Plan]]. ![[image-190.png|723x510]] *Photo from the third Plenary Assembly in 1953, Geneva, Switzerland. * #### Structure - The supreme body of the WJC is called the Plenary Assembly, often referred to as a 'Congress.' - The Plenary Assembly convenes 350+ Jewish delegates from across the globe to debate, define, and dictate Jewish policy. - The Plenary Assembly meets around every four years for a period of 2-10 days. *More recently Plenary Assembly meetings are usually 2 days.* - There have been 17 Plenary Assemblies since 1936. - The 17th meeting of the Plenary Assembly was held in Jerusalem Israel from May 18-21, 2025. - Plenary Assemblies are held at varying locations across the United States, Europe, South America, and Israel. - The most common location is Jerusalem, Israel. - The WJC is headquartered in New York City, with international offices in many of the world's major cities. - The WJC has a President and a CEO (also called secretary general). - The WJC president is elected by the Plenary Assembly. - The current WJC president is [[Ronald Lauder]]. - The CEO or secretary general, is chosen by chosen by the WJC's governing board. - The most recent secretary general was [[Robert Singer]] who held the position from 2013-2019. - The structure of the WJC's global network gives the WJC a somewhat unique diplomatic position. - It is not uncommon for Jewish organizations to liaise with foreign governments on behalf of Israel but the WJC's global status allows it to be particularly effective. - In the 1980s, WJC president [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]] visited the Kremlin multiple times. At this time, Israel had almost no relations with the USSR. - Bronfman leveraged the established credibility of the WJC to essentially lobby on behalf of Israel in Moscow. - Bronfman carried a letter from Israeli Prime Minister [[Shimon Peres]] during his first Kremlin visit in 1985. - In a similar fashion to the Bronfman-USSR period, current WJC president [[Ronald Lauder]] has acted as an intermediary between Arab states and Israel. - When [[Donald Trump]] visited the Gulf states in May, 2025, [[Ronald Lauder]] was there meeting with Qatari leadership in Doha. ![[image-189.png]] *WJC President [[Ronald Lauder]] speaks at the 17th Plenary Assembly in May, 2025.* #### Kurt Waldheim Affair - In 1986-7 the WJC led a campaign to expose, smear, and blacklist an Austrian politician running for the Austrian presidency, Kurt Waldheim. - The WJC's Elan Steinberg and Eli Rosenbaum led the effort. - The WJC alleged that Kurt Waldheim's service in the German military during WWII implicated him in war crimes. - Waldheim won the 1986 Austrian presidential election, though at the cost of being treated as a global pariah. - On April 27, 1987, after persistent WJC lobbying, the U.S. Department of Justice banned Waldheim from entering the United States. - The U.S. Ambassador to Austria did not attend Waldheim's inauguration. - The U.S. Ambassador to Austria was future WJC president [[Ronald Lauder]]. - The WJC boasts that its "leadership persuaded other countries to close their borders to Waldheim as well." - The WJC's reputation soared following their international takedown of Waldheim. #### Swiss Banks and Holocaust Extortion - The WJC has been deeply involved with holocaust reparations and repatriations since the 1950s. - [[Nahum Goldmann]], the WJCs founder and president from 1949-1977, was a key figure in negotiating the 1952 Luxembourg Agreement. - The Luxembourg Agreement forced West Germany to pay ~3.45 billion Deutschmarks (~$820 million) to Israel and the [[Claims Conference|Conference on Material Claims Against Germany]] as compensation for Jewish suffering during WWII. - [[Nahum Goldmann]] was the initial founder of the [[Claims Conference|Conference on Material Claims Against Germany]] in 1951. - The Conference on Material Claims Against Germany, also called the Claims Conference, was founded under the auspices of the WJC. - #### Extortion of Swiss Banks - *This section is largely reliant on the second paperback edition of The Holocaust Industry by Norman Finkelstein. Finkelstein provides a full exposé of the Swiss banks saga in chapter three, the postscripts, and the appendix of his relatively short book.* - From 1995-1998 the WJC played the leading role in extorting a handful of Switzerland's largest banks for alleged dormant accounts of holocaust victims, and stolen Jewish gold from Nazi Germany. - The WJC leveraged its influence in the U.S. government to threaten sanctions on the Swiss banks if they did not pay huge sums to the WJC, Israel, and a myriad of Jewish organizations. - [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]] and [[Israel Singer]] from the WJC, U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury [[Stuart Eizenstat]], Eastern District of New York Judge Edward Korman, and New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato led a vicious legal campaign against the Swiss banks, ultimately securing a $1.25 billion payout in August 1998. - The WJC's lead negotiating partner was its subsidiary organization, the [[World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO)]]. - The WJC employed the [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)]], the [[ADL]], the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]], the U.S. House and Senate, and [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]] to empower its crusade against the Swiss. - The massive $1.25 billion payout did not reflect the findings of the Volker Commission, which only discovered low hundreds of millions in assets linked to ~25,000 dormant holocaust-era accounts of possible Jewish holocaust victims. (Finkelstein 2003, 113) - The $1.25 billion payout was squeezed out of the Swiss before the Volcker Commission could release its report. - The "Holocaust Industry," in this case meaning the collective of Jewish organizations pressuring for a larger payout, were demanding a payout of billions and eventually 10s of billions from the Swiss banks. (Finkelstein 2003, 94, 99, 100, 102) - The Swiss repeatedly offered large settlements, including a $600 million offer in June, 1998. - The [[ADL]]'s director, [[Abraham Foxman]], described the $600 million offer as "an insult to the memory of the [holocaust] victims." (Finkelstein 2003, 102) - The WJC campaign to defame the Swiss was led by Elan Steinberg. - Steinberg was the WJC's executive director. - Steinberg's tactics against the Swiss were described by writer Tom Bower as "Terror by embarrassment." (Finkelstein 2003, 92) - Banks in the United States also have dormant Jewish holocaust-era accounts, but the WJC doesn't seem to care. - The U.S., like Switzerland, was primary safe haven for Jewish assets during WWII. (Finkelstein 2003, 115) - Congress eventually set aside $3 million as restitution for dormant U.S. accounts. This figure was slashed to $1 million, and eventually settled at just $500,000. (Finkelstein 2003, 116) - Organized Jewry did not bother to extort U.S. banks for a huge payout like they did the Swiss. (Finkelstein 2003, 115-117) - Israel also had thousands of dormant holocaust bank accounts. - In 2000, Israel's largest bank, [[Bank Leumi]], reported 13,000 dormant holocaust-era accounts. - Israel has an estimated total of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of dormant accounts and land of probable holocaust victims. - No pressure campaign has been launched against the Israeli government to return these assets to their rightful owners or their heirs. (Finkelstein 2003, 231-32) #### WJC Programs - #### International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP) - Founded in 2002. - The ICJP is a "global network of Jewish legislators, government ministers, and other elected officials." - The ICJP's claimed purpose is to "support the principles of democracy, the cause of human rights, and the rule of law; and to combat racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, terrorism, and Holocaust denial by those means available to legislators and government ministers." - The ICJP is closely involved with Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. - The ICJP convenes during the WJC's Plenary Assemblies. *Covered under the "Structure" header.* - Many prominent Jewish U.S. elected representatives have been involved with the ICJP. - ICJP members have included: Diane Feinstein, [[Norm Coleman]], Frank Lautenberg, [[Joe Lieberman]], Eliot Engel, Tom Lantos, Jerry Nadler, Gary Ackerman, Henry Waxman, etc. *Is it not totally absurd that American elected representatives are convening as members of a "global network" of fellow Jewish politicians to coordinate on behalf of their shared Jewish interest?* - Jacky Rosen, the Democrat junior senator from Nevada, was appointed by [[Ronald Lauder]] to chair the ICJP in 2021. - The ICJP has a permanent 10% delegation from Israel's Knesset. - #### SECCA - The WJC runs a forum called Special Envoys and Coordinators Combatting Antisemitism, abbreviated as SECCA. - SECCA officials come from international organizations like the EU, UN, and the [[International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)]]. - SECCA convenes meetings to compose policy aimed at censoring and thwarting the opponents of Israel and the perceived opponents of Jews more broadly. - SECCA often works with TecHRI covered below. - #### Institute for Technology and Human Rights (TecHRI) - Launched on June 18, 2024. - TecHRI aims to "combat online antisemitism." - WJC president [[Ronald Lauder]] described TecHRI as a "significant step forward" adding "We must not allow hate to spread unchecked in the digital world." - TecHRI is partnered with social media companies and governments to censor speech the WJC does not like. - TecHRI boasts about its partnerships with TikTok, Meta, and YouTube, which it uses to shape platform policy and regulate "hate speech." - TecHRI's HO:PE tool is an antisemitism reporting website, app, and browser extension that targets the 27 European Union member countries. - HO:PE allows users to paste links to antisemitic content and select the "type" of antisemitism it falls under. - "Types" of antisemitism on the HO:PE site include: mean jokes, bullying, blaming, spam, harmful symbols. - After a user reports a piece of online antisemitism, each report will be reviewed by a "HOPE operator" and subsequently "shared with community representatives and, if needed, authorities." - Users will conveniently be updated on the status of their antisemitism report. - At its founding, TecHRI released a [long report](https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000390211) called "AI and the Holocaust." - The report claimed that artificial intelligence is distorting the truth of the Holocaust given its reliance on human "prejudices, conspiracy theories, disinformation and hatred." - The report called for policy makers and AI developers to regulate artificial intelligence, and incorporate information from Holocaust museums and Holocaust "educational organizations" for the purpose of "integrating digital literacy" into AI Holocaust information. - From September-December 2024, TecHRI ran a study which compared the ability of artificial intelligence to detect antisemitic comments online compared to the ability of a Jewish human. - The [report](https://wjc-org-website.s3.amazonaws.com/horizon/assets/882K59BU/human_vs_ai_comparison_of_online_antisemitism_experience.pdf) used the [[International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)]] definition of antisemitism as a guide for what constitutes "antisemitism." - On page 14 of the 17 page report, TecHRI asserts that American and European antisemitic comments require different levels of regulation, as European antisemitism is harder to detect and usually more subdued. - The report concludes that AI models (they tested Claude and GPT) are mostly adequate at detecting antisemitism "when properly trained." - The report also concluded that AI content moderation has "significant room for improvement" because it did not automatically remove content deemed antisemitic from social platforms. - In September, 2025, TecHRI released a report accusing Wikipedia of antisemitic and anti-Israel bias. - TecHRI claims to be engaging with the Wikimedia Foundation for "stronger safeguards" on Wikipedia's information. - [Yfat Barak-Cheney](https://eradicatehatesummit.org/participant/yfat-barak-cheney/) is the current TecHRI director of International Affairs. - Barak-Cheney is a Jewish lawyer. She is a member of both the New York and Israeli Bar Associations. - She clerked with the International Law Department of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. - She is also a pro-bono attorney for immigration and asylum cases in the United States, i.e. she helps to facilitate illegal immigration. #RedPill *Sometimes the redpills write themselves.* #### WJC Censorship Initiatives - During a December 2025 speech, WJC president [[Ronald Lauder]] declared a new WJC initiative to force their holocaust propaganda film *Auschwitz Did Not Fall From the Sky* into U.S. education curriculum. - Lauder stated, "This film I'm going to show to the Department of Education. I want it shown in all schools for kids 12 to 17, in the schools. And when you see this film it is so convincing." - Lauder explained that he initially presented the film to Polish officials, after which they agreed to show the film in all Polish schools on January 27, 2026, the anniversary of the liberation Auschwitz. - Lauder added, "If you can convince the Polish people, you can convince anybody." - During that same speech Lauder praised [[Donald Trump]]'s United Nations Ambassador, [[Mike Waltz]], saying "[Waltz] is one of the best people we've ever had in the UN." - The WJC has lobbied for criminalization of Holocaust Denial™ across Europe. - For example, in 2024 the WJC praised Swedish legislation criminalizing holocaust denial. - The WJC boasted that since [[October 7th]], the World Jewish Congress' Nordic office had been lobbying the Swedish government to crack down on antisemitism amid rising "incidents of hate and Holocaust denial and distortion." - The WJC's Institute for Technology and Human rights is a major censorship-weapon wielded by the WJC. *Covered above.* - In a [November 2025 speech](https://youtu.be/ESwj_Sl7eK0), WJC president [[Ronald Lauder]] demanded the U.S. implement laws banning antisemitism. - Lauder stated, "Jewish schools are not enough. The entire education system in this [United States] country, in k-12 and colleges, must be reformed. Laws must be passed that will focus on three things: no racism, no antisemitism, and anti-western civilization should be taught here." - Lauder then warned that antisemitism has been dormant in the U.S. since "the 1930s, there was a strong, vocal, and even pro-Nazi movement with famous names like Charles Lindbergh and Father Coughlin...Father Coughlin was the [[Tucker Carlson]] of the 1930s, and radio was the [[Sale of TikTok|TikTok]] and Youtube of the era." he continued, "We must retake out schools. It's only a question of money, laws." *The "pro-Nazi" movement in America from the 1930s that Lauder is referencing is the America First movement/America First Committee, led by national hero Charles Lindbergh. Lauder, of course, refrains from using the name of the movement* - In a [December 2025 speech](https://youtu.be/oL8lWmZSVOc?t=477), Lauder stated, "There's one more target that the antisemitism has infiltrated. It's our schools. Our schools are ground zero...it's not just in colleges and universities. Now it's k-12, where children are brainwashed to hate Israel!" #### 2006 Financial Scandal - In 2004, WJC senior vice president Isi Leibler accused WJC leadership of faulty management of finances. - In 2006 the New York Attorney General began scrutinizing WJC finances with the cooperation of the WJC. - The inquiry discovered severe mismanagement of finances by WJC secretary general [[Israel Singer]]. - Among his offenses, Singer made an improper transfer of $1.2 million to a Swiss bank account in the early 2000s. - Singer was reluctantly fired by WJC president [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]]. - Singer had been Bronfman's long-time sidekick. #### Lobbying and Other Activities - During WWII the WJC aggressively lobbied FDR to act on reports of Nazi atrocities. - In the late 1940s, the WJC lobbied the UN and the Truman Administration for recognition of the state of Israel. - In the 1970s and 1980s, the WJC lobbied the U.S. government on behalf of Soviet Jewry. - The WJC secured legislation restricting trade with the USSR on the basis of Soviet Jewish policy. - In the 1980s, the WJC lobbied the U.S. government to effectively blacklist Austrian president Kurt Waldheim. *Covered above.* - In the 1990s, the WJC lobbied the U.S. government so effectively that they essentially wielded the power of the House, Senate, White House, and dozens of state governments against Swiss banks that the WJC spuriously accused of hoarding Jewish holocaust money. *The Swiss banks saga is covered above.* - Since the 2000s, the WJC has lobbied successive U.S. administrations to sanction Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Libya, Iraq, etc. - Since the 2010s, the WJC has lobbied for anti-BDS laws and the adoption of the [[International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)]] definition of antisemitism. - In recent years the WJC is strongly focused on lobbying for laws restricting "hate speech" and online antisemitism. - On June 19, 2025, WJC's regional president in Israel, Sylvan Adams, wrote an open letter to [[Donald Trump]] asking him to join the [[2025 12 Day Iran-Israel War]]. - Adams' letter asked Trump to "Sell us a few B-2 bombers and a few dozen bunker-busting MOPs" so that Israel could strike Iran's Fordow nuclear facility. *If we sold Israel a B-2 bomber, they would be buying it with money we give them. Adams' use of the term "sell us" implies that such a transaction is mutually beneficial, as if the Israelis are providing something too.* - Two days later, on June 21, 2025, Adam's call was answered when the United States bombed Iran's nuclear facilities on behalf of Israel, a decades long Jewish demand fulfilled. - *Worth noting that Sylvan Adams, the Israeli WJC regional president who asked Trump to give "us" B-2 bombers, was born in Canada and is a citizen of Canada.* --- - The WJC gives out three awards: - The [[Theodor Herzl]] award to "outstanding individuals" who promote "a tolerant world" and "international support for Israel." *The Herzl award is the WJC's highest honor.* - Past recipients: Sen. John Fetterman, Rep. Elise Stefanik, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, [[Nikki Haley]], [[Colin Powell]], Joe Biden, [[Henry Kissinger]], [[Elie Wiesel]], [[Shimon Peres]]. - The [[Teddy Kollek]] award to individuals whose lives have "perpetuated Jewish roots, values and heritage." - Past recipients: [[Bret Stephens]], Ken Burns, [[Robert Kraft]]. - The [[Nahum Goldmann]] medal to individuals with "extraordinary contributions to the Jewish people." - Past recipients: Jimmy Carter, [[Stephen S. Wise]], Carl Sagan, Israeli President Yitzhak Navon, [[Stuart Eizenstat]]. --- - The WJC often intersects with other Jewish organizations including: - The [[World Zionist Organization]] and the [[Jewish Agency]] - The WJC is a member of the WZO. The WZO and the Jewish Agency are largely intertwined. - [[Conference of Presidents]] - The CoP represents dozens of American Jewish organizations, whose activity often overlaps with WJC activity. [[Ronald Lauder]] was the Conference of Presidents chairman from 1999-2001. - The [[Claims Conference]] and the [[World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO)]] - Both organizations spawned from the WJC. Both are involved in extorting Germany and other European countries for the holocaust. - The [[NAACP]] - The WJC and the NAACP have partnered on appeals to "fight racism." In 2020, NAACP president Derrick Johnson [addressed the WJC](https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/naacp-president-derrick-johnson-in-address-to-wjc-jewish-diplomatic-corps-dont-let-outside-influence-break-us-apart-11-4-2020) Diplomatic Corps during the WJC's ten-day "United Against Racism Global Conference." #### Notable Figures And Connections *Note: The WJC's CEO is commonly called the secretary general.* - #### Presidents - [[Julian Mack]] - First president 1936-1943 - [[Stephen S. Wise]] - Co-founder and second president 1944-1949 - [[Nahum Goldmann]] - Co-founder and third president 1949-1977 - [[Philip Klutznick]] - Fourth president 1977-1979 - [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]] - Fifth president 1979-2007 - [[Ronald Lauder]] - Sixth president 2007-present - #### Secretaries General - [[Irving Miller]] - Secretary general 1936-1940 - Gerhart Riegner - Secretary general 1948-1983 - Joined WJC in 1942 as representative in Switzerland during WWII - [[Israel Singer]] - Disgraced former secretary general 1986-2001 - [[Stephen Herbits]] - Secretary general 2005-2007 - [[Dan Diker]] - Secretary general 2011-2012 - [[Robert Singer]] - Secretary general 2013-2019 - #### Other Leaders - Leo Motzkin - Co-founder - Maurice Perlzweig - Co-founder and major early figure - Jacob Robinson - Major WJC legal figure and founder of the [[Institute for Jewish Policy Research]] in 1941 - Baron David de Rothschild - Current honorary chairman of the governing board - David is a member of the well known Jewish Rothschild banking dynasty. - Elan Steinberg - Executive director ~1978-2004 - [[Miriam Adelson]] - Co "Herzl chair" - [[J. Philip Rosen]] - Current chairman of the WJC American section, Rosen is the founder of [[American Friends of Likud]]. - #### Other Connections - Ronald Lauder is a long time [[Donald Trump]] associate, having funded and supported his presidential campaigns in 2016, 2020, and 2024. - [[Elie Wiesel]] was a longtime WJC associate and holocaust speaker. Elie Wiesel is the top holocaust propagandist of all time. #### Funding and Major Donors *An exhaustive list of WJC donors is not possible to compile given the WJC does not have to report the names of its donors.* - The WJC is almost exclusively funded through grants and donor contributions. - The United States chapter of the WJC reported $24.6 million in revenue in 2023. - 98.6% of the total 2023 revenue came from contributions. --- - #### Dynastic Family Fortunes - WJC presidents [[Edgar Bronfman Sr.]] and [[Ronald Lauder]] have both been major WJC backers via their personal fortunes. - Bronfman was the heir to the Seagram's liquor fortune. - Lauder is the heir to the Estee-Lauder cosmetics fortune. - Chella Safra, the WJC's treasurer, is a member of the Jewish Safra banking family from Brazil. - The Rothschild family have long been WJC backers. - Lord Jacob Rothschild was given the WJC's [[Teddy Kollek]] award on behalf of the Rothschild family. - Baron David de Rothschild is currently the honorary WJC chairman. *"Honorary" board positions are essentially handouts to big donors. This is consistent across all organizations.* --- - The German and Swiss governments have also been involuntary benefactors of the WJC through billions of dollars in holocaust reparations money. - The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation gave a $400,000 grant to the WJC in 2019. - The Patriots Foundation was founded by [[Robert Kraft]] and kraft is the sole listed name under the "Substantial Contributors Schedule" from the foundations 2019 financial documents. - Kraft is the owner of the New England Patriots football team, the chairman of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, and a major backer of Jewish and Israeli causes. - *Almost all of the top grants issued by the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation are to Jewish organizations covered in this project.* #### Recommended Reading - The Holocaust Industry - Norman Finkelstein - The Israel Lobby - John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt - Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic - Ilan Pappe #### References - Norman G. Finkelstein, _The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering_, 2nd paperback ed. (London: Verso, 2003), 92, 94, 99, 100, 102, 112, 113, 231, 232. - World Jewish Congress. “History.” _World Jewish Congress_. [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/history](https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/about/history). - Menachem Z. Rosensaft, “A history of the World Jewish Congress is a portrait of modern Jewry,” _Jewish News_, July 31, 2017, [https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/a-history-of-the-world-jewish-congress-is-a-portrait-of-modern-jewry](https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/a-history-of-the-world-jewish-congress-is-a-portrait-of-modern-jewry). - World Jewish Congress. “Nuremberg and Beyond: Jacob Robinson - a Champion for Justice.” World Jewish Congress. [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/85th-anniversary/nuremberg-and-beyond-jacob-robinson-a-champion-for-justice](https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/85th-anniversary/nuremberg-and-beyond-jacob-robinson-a-champion-for-justice). - Zohar Segev, “The World Jewish Congress, the League of Nations and the United Nations,” _World Jewish Congress_, [https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/85th-anniversary/the-world-jewish-congress-the-league-of-nations-and-the-united-nations](https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/85th-anniversary/the-world-jewish-congress-the-league-of-nations-and-the-united-nations). - Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), “Member Organizations,” _CoNGO_, [https://ngocongo.org/member-organizations/](https://ngocongo.org/member-organizations/). - “World Jewish Congress,” _Wikipedia_, last modified November 30, 2025, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Jewish_Congress](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Jewish_Congress). - Mykola Makhortykh, _AI and the Holocaust: Rewriting History? The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Understanding the Holocaust_, edited by Heather Mann (Paris: UNESCO, 2024), [https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000390211](https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000390211). - World Jewish Congress. “Institute for Technology and Human Rights.” _World Jewish Congress_. 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