Press Releases

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.

Leaders of the JCRC of Greater Washington, the ADL Washington, D.C., and American Jewish Committee (AJC) met Monday evening with Dr. Lewis Ferebee, Chancellor of the DC Public Schools, and Rev. Thomas Bowen, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Religious Affairs, to discuss the horrific incident at Watkins Elementary School involving a school librarian who allegedly instructed third grade students to reenact the elements of the Holocaust.

“This groundbreaking legislation is a welcome next step to further enhance U.S. engagement in the strategically important Eastern Mediterranean,” said AJC CEO David Harris, who has been a leader in advancing U.S., Cyprus, Greece, and Israel ties for nearly four decades. “It is immensely heartening to witness Congress come together in a bipartisan fashion to strengthen our democratic partners and regional stability in a part of the world critical to American interests.”

American Jewish Committee (AJC) today expressed deep concern about the efforts of some political factions in Bosnia-Herzegovina to remove the country’s legal ban on denial of the Holocaust and other genocides.

A new initiative sponsored by American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Mimouna Association is bringing together for the first time a group of young Americans, Israelis, and Moroccans to deepen understanding and build cooperative relationships. The AJC -Mimouna Michael Sachs Emerging Leaders Fellowship follows on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that ACCESS, AJC’s young professionals network, and the Mimouna Association, an organization of young Moroccan Muslim leaders, signed in January.

An American Jewish Committee (AJC) leadership delegation concluded a week of consultations and institutional events in three Arab Gulf capitals, continuing AJC’s 25-year-plus engagement with regional governments and building on the breakthrough 2020 Abraham Accords normalization agreements between Israel and two Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

After the launch of the Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) inter-parliamentary group in the EU Parliament in July 2019, the first national chapter opened on October 13 in the Austrian parliament, under the leadership of Chair MP Martin Engelberg and the support of lawmakers from the Greens, the Social-Democrats and NEOS, the liberal party.

Hillel International and American Jewish Committee (AJC), in collaboration with the American Council on Education (ACE), will bring together college and university leaders from across the United States for a two-day summit on the unprecedented increase in antisemitic activity and the marginalization of Jewish students on campus. The February summit will be hosted by New York University.