Press Releases and Statements

American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch issued the following statement, one week ahead of Election Day in the United States:

American Jewish Committee (AJC), the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, issued a statement today welcoming the decision of Adidas to terminate its partnership with Kanye West today.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO Ted Deutch, in a letter to President Biden, has urged the United States to mobilize the international community to convene a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council to address the Iranian regime’s deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters. AJC also launched today an online campaign, AJC.org/StopIranAbuses, encouraging individuals to sign a petition calling on the White House to take action detailed in Deutch’s letter to the president

Jewish Committee (AJC) has signed an association agreement with Comite Central Israelita de Uruguay, the main Jewish communal organization in Uruguay. It is AJC’s 38th association agreement with Jewish communities around the world, the 15th with communities in Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch today sharply criticized Kanye West’s antisemitic statements, calling them “a clear and present danger to every Jewish person.” Deutch urged Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms to keep West’s anti-Jewish hate off their channels.

American Jewish Committee Central Europe today launched “Don’t Talk Like An Antisemite,” a social media campaign to fight antisemitism in Poland. Short videos appearing on Facebook and Instagram over the next four weeks will raise awareness of words and terms that may not be recognized as furthering hate towards Jews. “Antisemitism starts with hurtful words and prejudices, but it never stops there,” said Dr. Sebastian Rejak, Director of the Shapiro Silverberg AJC Central Europe Office.

American Jewish Committee has welcomed new regulations by the U.S. Department of Commerce that clamp down on companies that comply with a boycott of Israel by the Arab League. The updated rules were detailed by Matthew Axelrod, Assistant Commerce Secretary for Export Enforcement, during a meeting at the American Jewish Committee office in Washington. Axelrod also oversees the Office of Antiboycott Compliance, which has administrative enforcement authority over U.S. antiboycott laws that prohibit American citizens or companies from supporting unsanctioned foreign boycotts against countries friendly to the United States.

Ted Deutch has assumed the helm of American Jewish Committee (AJC) as CEO of the leading global Jewish advocacy organization. He succeeds David Harris, who stepped down Friday, after serving as AJC CEO for more than 32 years. “Becoming CEO of AJC is a great honor and humbling responsibility,” said Deutch. “I am wholeheartedly committed to furthering AJC’s nonpartisan, centrist approach, and will be steadfast in my efforts to advance the organization’s mission of enhancing the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel.”

Just a day after Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid told the United Nations he supports a two-state solution, it was regrettable that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reacted to this courageous overture with hostile rhetoric that prevents a meaningful dialogue.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s call, in his address to the UN General Assembly, for the search for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The leading global Jewish advocacy organization offered this statement:

American Jewish Committee (AJC) has honored Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, with the leading global Jewish advocacy organization’s prestigious Jan Karski Award. “This is an award that belongs to very few living people who can match the standards of Jan Karski. You are one of them,” said AJC CEO David Harris, who presented the award to Shaheed at an AJC diplomatic reception on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and who knew Karski well during the last 15 years of his life.

An American Jewish Committee delegation of 80 people from across the United States were joined last evening by Emirati government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, business leaders, and members of the local Jewish community to celebrate the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords and the official opening earlier this year of AJC Abu Dhabi: The Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding.

The U.S. Department of Education has announced it will investigate a complaint that accuses the University of Vermont of not doing enough to clamp down on antisemitic activity on campus. AJC criticized the university for not addressing the concerns of Jewish students in a constructive manner.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Lufthansa Group announced today a joint initiative to combat global antisemitism. The new partnership, detailed in a Memorandum of Understanding that the German airline and the leading global Jewish advocacy organization are signing, focuses on Lufthansa utilizing AJC staff experts to train airline employees to identify and respond to antisemitism.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) today released “What Do Jews Think About Peace?” (“kayfa yara al-yahud al-salaam”), an informative three-minute video in Arabic that elucidates the high value that Jews and Judaism place on the pursuit of peace. The video also is available in English. What Do Jews Think About Peace? is the ninth episode of AJC’s Arabic language educational web series, ‘An al-Yahud (“About the Jews”), launched in 2020. The new video explains the teachings about peace that are integral to Judaism and have underpinned Israeli society and policy since the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.

American Jewish Committee today released a comprehensive Call to Action for America to help key sectors of society better understand antisemitism, so they can better respond to and prevent anti-Jewish hate in their communities.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) launched today its Campus Global Board, an initiative to broaden the leading global Jewish advocacy organization’s engagement with college students around the world.

American Jewish Committee has appointed Aaron Bregman as the leading global Jewish advocacy organization’s first director of High School Affairs.

If the attack on Salman Rushdie is connected to the Iranian "fatwa" calling for his execution, it is one more link in the chain of murder and attempted murder that originates in Tehran under the mullahs.