Press Releases and Statements

American Jewish Committee (AJC) announced today additional grants from its #StandWithUkraine Fund to organizations providing direct humanitarian relief to Ukrainian refugees and to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine following Russia’s unprovoked, violent invasion. “We are compelled by our tradition and humanity to do whatever we possibly can to assist the people of Ukraine as they valiantly fight for their freedom and democratic, independent country,” said AJC CEO David Harris.

A group of American mayors is visiting Israel this week with Project Interchange, an educational institute of the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The educational seminar is the second delegation under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) and AJC. Organized by AJC Project Interchange, the seminar is designed to further enhance U.S.-Israel relations at the important municipal level. The program’s intensive sessions and visits throughout the country will enable the mayors to gain a first-hand understanding of Israel’s vibrant democracy, diverse society, and regional challenges.

American Jewish Committee, the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, today launched on social media three videos featuring American Jews sharing how rising antisemitism has impacted them. They also speak powerfully about the importance of asserting proudly their Jewish identity to combat Jew-hatred. The video series is the latest initiative of AJC’s national campaign to raise awareness of the severity of rising antisemitism in the United States.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) announced today grants from its #StandWithUkraine Fund to Jewish organizations providing direct humanitarian relief to Ukrainians. AJC’s emergency #StandWithUkraine Fund, launched within days after Russia’s unprovoked and deadly invasion began, has raised to date more than $1.4 million to assist Ukrainian refugees and to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

We are here to bear witness,” American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris declared at a refugee reception center in Dorohusk, Poland, on the border with Ukraine. Harris led an AJC group to Poland on a three-day visit to demonstrate solidarity with Ukrainians who have fled their country, seeking safety in Poland and other neighboring countries. He saluted the many Polish volunteers, who have been setting up tents, providing basic sanitary and food supplies, as well as opened their homes to some refugees.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris has expressed grave concerns about the Iran nuclear deal emerging from more than eight months of negotiations in Vienna. “If the final result in Vienna is a return to essentially the same inadequate 2015 package, we will be left to wonder on what basis such an agreement advances regional and global security,” said Harris in the letter.

IsraAID, the international Israeli humanitarian aid organizations, is the first recipient of an American Jewish Committee (AJC) #StandWithUkraine Fund grant. The AJC grant will support IsraAID in establishing safe spaces for children, providing medical supplies, and offering trauma counseling. IsraAID, a longtime partner of AJC, has responded to humanitarian crises worldwide for more than 20 years, and often is among the first relief organization to be on site, as it is now doing in Moldova.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris expressed today, in a letter to President Joe Biden, “unreserved support for American leadership in mobilizing global solidarity and assistance for Ukraine.” “You can count on the full support of American Jewish Committee and our hundreds of thousands of advocates across the country,” wrote Harris, “as the U.S. considers additional steps to support Ukraine’s struggle to defend itself and to meet the urgent needs of its citizens, as well as to punish Moscow and to isolate it from the global economy.”

American Jewish Committee (AJC ) officially opened its first office in an Arab country, AJC Abu Dhabi: The Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding, on March 2, with a reception and ribbon-cutting ceremony in the UAE capital. “AJC played an essential role over the years in laying the foundation for the Abraham Accords. I cannot overstate the significance of its contribution, which makes its new office here so natural and also so necessary, as we work together to expand regional peace and understanding,” said Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee of the UAE Federal National Council. He joined with AJC CEO David Harris, AJC Abu Dhabi Director Ambassador Marc Sievers, and AJC Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer Jason Isaacson to cut the ribbon at the entrance to the new office.

American Jewish Committee (AJC), the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, launched today AJC’s Emergency #StandWithUkraine Fund to assist Ukrainian refugees and to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine following Russia’s unprovoked, violent invasion.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) is horrified by Russia’s indiscriminate missile attacks on Kyiv that today killed at least five people and severely damaged the Babi Yar memorial. At this site, Nazi Germans murdered more than 100,000 people, primarily Jews, and for decades the Soviets refused to erect a proper memorial to honor the victims.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) today announced it has appointed Ted Deutch, member of the United States House of Representatives and lifelong Jewish and pro-Israel activist, as the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer, effective October 1, 2022.

“While belated apologies are welcome, any elected official willfully using the ‘Jew them down’ phrase is contributing to the spread of a classic antisemitic trope. Certainly, there are plentiful words and phrases in the English language to use in making a point in the state legislature without succumbing to traditional, derogatory references to Jews,” said Melanie Maron Pell.

American Jewish Committee has released an Arabic-language video about the American Jewish community, the seventh episode of the organization’s popular Arabic video series, ‘An al-Yahud (“About the Jews”).

Extensive surveys of France’s Jewish, Muslim, and general populations reveal the extent of unabated antisemitism threatening the country’s Jewish population, the largest in Europe. The three surveys were conducted by IFOP, a leading polling firm, for AJC in partnership with Fondapol, a major French think tank. 85% of French Jews say antisemitism is a widespread phenomenon in France today, and 73% say it has been increasing over the past ten years. In contrast, only 64% of the general population see antisemitism prevalent and rising.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), American Jewish Committee (AJC), B'nai B'rith International, and the Jewish Federations of North America issued a joint statement on the Amnesty International report on Israel.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism will host a virtual briefing for members of Congress and congressional staff on Thursday, January 27. Holly Huffnagle, AJC’s U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism will present to the Task Force the findings of AJC’s 2021 State of Antisemitism in America Report and discuss concrete recommendations on addressing the problem.

As Muslims and Jews committed to our communities and our country, we stand in partnership to condemn the heinous act of targeted violence at the Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas.

For the 14th consecutive year, Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC’s Director of International Jewish Affairs, will serve as Personal Representative on Combating Antisemitism for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Baker’s appointment was announced by Zbigniew Rau, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, who assumed the post of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office this month.

“Our longstanding friendship with the Philippines, and our Jewish values to assist those in need, summon us to respond with empathy and generosity. We are pleased to join with IsraAID, as we have done in previous crises in the Philippines, in delivering urgent humanitarian assistance,” said Shira Loewenberg, Director of AJC’s Asia Pacific Institute. AJC supported IsraAID’s relief efforts in the Philippines after Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, Typhoon Hagupit in 2014, and Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.