Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CPMAJO - also called Presidents Conference) was founded by Nahum Goldmann in 1954 as the coordinating body for 52 national Jewish organizations to lobby the executive branch on behalf of Israel. The power wielded by the organization's chairman is hinted at in a statement by ADL national director Abraham Foxman:'This position is lovingly called 'the King of the Jews,' he told the New Yorker.[1]
Contents
Activities
Projects
In 2003 the Conference of Presidents partnered with the Israel on Campus Coalition to create the Israel Campus Beat[2]. Other initiative include:
- America's Voices in Israel[3]
- Secure Community network[4]
- Leadership Action Network[5]
- The Lawfare Project[6].
Events
- On 24 March 2009 British MP Denis MacShane, a leading advocate of the notion that critics of Zionism are anti-Semitic, met with the Conference of Presidents ‘to discuss the sharp rise in anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incidents’
- On 25 March the Conference hosted the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat on his inaugural visit to the US ‘to discuss his vision for the city.’
- On 6 May 2009 Israeli President Shimon Peres addressed New York leaders ‘at a special luncheon’, following meetings with President Obama and Vice President Biden.
- On 11 August 2009 new Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren addressed the Conference of Presidents.
- On 24 September 2009 the Conference of Presidents jointly with the Consulate General of Israel in New York hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who has also spoken on a number of other occasions.
- On 8 June 2010 the far-right Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman was welcomed.
- On 1 March 2011 leaders of the Conference of Presidents and its member organizations met with US President Barack Obamaat the White House ‘to discuss U.S.-Israel relations, ongoing changes in the Middle East and other issues’.
- On 9 March 2001, Ofer Eini, Chairman of the Histadrut and Vice President of the International Trade Unions Confederation, gave ‘a special briefing about the role of labor in the efforts to combat the delegitimization of Israel’.
- On 15 September 2011 the Conference of Presidents hosted the former Commander-In-Chief of the Israeli Air Force and the current President/CEO of EL AL Israel Airlines, Major General (Ret.) Elyezer Shkedy.
- On 19 December 2011 leaders of the Conference of Presidents met with Former Governor of Massachusetts and Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney.[7]
History
Principals and Members
- Richard B. Stone - Chairman
- Malcolm I. Hoenlein - Executive vice-chairman
Former staff
- Mortimer Zuckerman - chairman (2001-2003)
- Ronald Lauder - chairman until 2001
- Yehuda Hellman - Executive director until death in May 1986
- Seymour D. Reich - former chairman (1988-1990)[8]
- Alan Solow - chairman until May 2011
Member Organizations
Funding
Publications
Contact
- 633 Third Avenue
- New York, NY 10017
- United States
- Phone:(+1) 212 318 6111
- Email: info@conferenceofpresidents.org
- Website: http://www.conferenceofpresidents.org/
References
- ↑ Paumgarten, Nick, "The Tycoon." The New Yorker, 23 July 2007
- ↑ About, Israel Campus Beat, accessed 3 July 2012
- ↑ America's Voices in Israel, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
- ↑ Secure Community network, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
- ↑ Leadership Action Network, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
- ↑ The Lawfare Project, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
- ↑ Recent Events, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
- ↑ Seymour D. Reich, Examining Mr. Obama's foreign policy, The Washington Post, 25 November 2010