Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

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<youtube size="medium" align="right" caption="Report from COMPAJO Jerusalem conference with executive vice-chairman Malcolm Hoenlein discussing Iran and 'delegitimisation' of Israel">giyntDQ8N40</youtube>

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]

Activities

The organisation's website lists the following goals:

  • Strengthen and foster the special U.S.-Israel relationship.
  • Ensure that Israel's interests are heard and understood by policy makers, opinion molders and the American public.
  • Address critical foreign policy issues that impact the American Jewish community.
  • Represent the interests of organized American Jewry.
  • Protect and enhance the security and dignity of Jews around the world.[2]

Projects

Israel Campus Beat

In 2003 the Conference of Presidents partnered with the Israel on Campus Coalition to create the Israel Campus Beat, which monitors and publishes news about campus activities around Israel in North American colleges and universities. It says it aims ' to provide updated news and information for pro-Israel students, professionals who support them on campus and stakeholders across the broader community.' [3]Its editor-in-chief is former Jerusalem Post editor Carl Shrag and articles are written by freelance student reporter interns.[4]

America's Voices in Israel

CoPMAJO's project America's Voices in Israel[5] is designed ‘to bolster Israel’s image in the United States’ by organising visits to Israel for American celebrities including, ‘high profile sports personalities and entertainers’ in order to ‘provide an antidote to the distortions and misrepresentations about the Jewish state that are increasingly promulgated by those who seek to delegitimize and demonize Israel.’

Participants are given guided tours and meet 'academic and military experts, policy makers and other influential Israelis'. The project employs social and traditional media outlets to report on their trips and according to the project’s website ‘Without exception, those who have traveled with America’s Voices use their respective platforms to speak about their experiences in Israel and have become lasting friends and advocates.’[6] Twilight actor Kellan Lutz, visiting for the second time, reportedly commented that people are "not really informed" about Israel.[7]

The project began in 2001 but was reorganised in late 2010 when Chairman George Rohr appointed Irwin Katsof director[8]. Katsof has also been involved in Aish HaTorah trips and helped to found Honest Reporting[9]. At least one America's Voices trips appears to have included a visit to vineyards in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights[10] while another group were 'briefed by historian Daniel Pipes'.[11]

Other initiatives include:

Events

<youtube size="medium" align="right" caption="Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the Presidents' Conference in New York, July 2010">mPtujU-hmSM&feature=player_embedded</youtube>

  • 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 Obama at 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.[15]

Leadership Mission visit to illegal settlement

The Conference's February 2011 Israel Leadership Mission, the 37th annual visit to Israel, saw Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, amongst others, speak to a delegation. Sessions included a 'Tribute to the IDF' and a talk entitled Settlements: Are They the Challenge to Peace?'[16]. For the latter talk, delegates went to Ariel, an illegal settlement in the West Bank, and heard from its mayor, Ron Nachman, who said that 'As the Jewish people have an inalienable right to live in all of Israel, they could not then be considered occupiers or trespassers.' They also visited Ariel University Center of Samaria 'heard from several of the university students, including an Ethipian immigrant, an Israeli Arab student' who spoke of 'an inclusive and supportive academic environment where equality and tolerance led to a healthy learning environment with freedom of expression'.[17]

History

According to the New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman, the Conference of Presidents is ‘Likud-run'[18]. In other words, as another writer notes, it leans 'decisively to the right on critical issues involving Israel'[19].

Principals and Members

Former staff

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

  1. ↑ Paumgarten, Nick, "The Tycoon." The New Yorker, 23 July 2007
  2. ↑ About the Conference, CoMAJO, accessed 17 July 2012
  3. ↑ About, Israel Campus Beat, accessed 3 July 2012
  4. ↑ Who We Are, Israel Campus Beat, accessed 15 July 2012
  5. ↑ America's Voices in Israel, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
  6. ↑ About Us, America's Voices in Israel, accessed 17 July 2012
  7. ↑ Batsheva Sobelman, ISRAEL: Trying classic, digital and celebrity diplomacy, Los Angeles Times, accessed 17 July 2012
  8. ↑ America's Voices in Israel Relaunched, George Rohr Announces Irwin Katsof Named as New Director , PRWeb, accessed 17 July 2012
  9. ↑ About, IrwinKatsof.com, accessed 17 July 2012
  10. ↑ Highlights of Wednesday withOmar Epps, Holly Robinson Peete, Holt McCallany, Paul Johansson, Paget Brewster, Mekhi Phifer, Zach Roerig & AnnaLynne McCord, America's Voices in Israel, accessed 17 July 2012
  11. ↑ National Association of Evangelicals visit Israel! Days 5-7, America's Voices in Israel, accessed 17 July 2012
  12. ↑ Secure Community network, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
  13. ↑ Leadership Action Network, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
  14. ↑ The Lawfare Project, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
  15. ↑ Recent Events, Conference of Presidents, accessed 3 July 2012
  16. ↑ 2011 Israel Leadership Mission, CoPMAJO, accessed 18 July 2012
  17. ↑ Settlements: Are they the Challenge to Peace?, CoPMAJO, accessed 18 July 2012
  18. ↑ Israel and the Settlers, New York Times, accessed 17 July 2012
  19. ↑ Mihcael Massing, Deal Breakers, American Prospect, accessed 17 July 2012
  20. ↑ Seymour D. Reich, Examining Mr. Obama's foreign policy, The Washington Post, 25 November 2010
  21. ↑ Lester Pollack: An Illustrious Record of Leadership, NYU Law School Magazine, accessed 17 July 2012
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