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.

Activities

Projects

In 2003 the Conference of Presidents partnered with the Israel on Campus Coalition to create the Israel Campus Beat. Other initiative include America's Voices in Israel, Secure Community network, Leadership Action Network and the Lawfare Project.

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.

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)
• Alan Solow - chairman until May 2011

Member Organizations

Ameinu American Friends of Likud American Gathering/Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors America-Israel Friendship League American Israel Public Affairs Committee American Jewish Committee American Jewish Congress American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee American Sephardi Federation American Zionist Movement Americans for Peace Now AMIT Anti-Defamation League Association of Reform Zionists of America B’nai B’rith International Bnai Zion Central Conference of American Rabbis Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America Development Corporation for Israel / State of Israel Bonds Emunah of America Friends of Israel Defense Forces Hadassah, Women’s Zionist Organization of America Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life Jewish Community Centers Association Jewish Council for Public Affairs

The Jewish Federations of North America Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs Jewish Labor Committee Jewish National Fund Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Jewish War Veterans of the USA Jewish Women International MERCAZ USA, Zionist Organization of the Conservative Movement NA’AMAT USA NCSJ National Council of Jewish Women National Council of Young Israel ORT America Rabbinical Assembly Rabbinical Council of America Religious Zionists of America Union for Reform Judaism Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism WIZO Women’s League for Conservative Judaism Women of Reform Judaism Workmen’s Circle World ORT World Zionist Executive, US Zionist Organization of America

Contact

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New York, NY 10017

United States

Phone:(+1) 212 318 6111

Email: info@conferenceofpresidents.org

Website: http://www.conferenceofpresidents.org/