American Jewish Committee

We are grateful to Pope Leo XIV for welcoming AJC CEO Ted Deutch, President Bobby Lapin, and Director of Interreligious Affairs Rabbi Noam Marans, alongside dozens of AJC leaders, to the Vatican. During the papal audience, the delegation presented the Pope with artwork celebrating the historic bond between the Jewish people and the Catholic Church, including the landmark 1965 Nostra Aetate declaration, which transformed Catholic-Jewish relations. As a longtime leader in Catholic-Jewish relations, AJC is proud to continue building understanding and strengthening ties between our communities. We thank Pope Leo for his friendship and support for Jewish communities around the world, and wish him a speedy recovery and good health.

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I’ve long said that the world’s antisemitism crisis demands a response beyond just the Jewish community. This week, I saw hundreds of partners answer the call. What has become normal for many Jews isn’t normal. Families now enter synagogues through blast-proof doors. Their belongings are scanned by metal detectors while armed guards keep watch. Spaces that are meant to be havens for Jewish joy and belonging now feel like fortresses. Jews are forced to be on the defensive. But there’s good news: we’re not facing this alone. This week in Denver, nearly thirty AJC colleagues helped bring together leaders from government, education, and civil society for the first annual David Merage Foundation Congress for Confronting Antisemitism. That partnership didn’t just start this week. For nearly a year, AJC, the Merage Family, and the entire Merage Foundation worked together to turn this amazing idea into reality. The room was filled with mayors and state senators. There were police chiefs, civic leaders, Jewish communal partners, and clergy from all walks of life. Three quarters of those there weren’t Jewish–no small fact. Throughout the Congress, we discussed what effective cross-sector collaboration looks like to take on antisemitism. That’s familiar territory at AJC. We helped create the Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council 10 years ago. Our Black/Jewish Coalition in Atlanta is a platform for education and advocacy. Our BILLA Institute connects us with leaders across Latin America. We forge alliances across a breadth of non-Jewish and Jewish communal partners. Our regional offices prioritize reaching out to other groups and building stronger bridges of understanding. It is vitally important work. And there is so much more to do. That was the essence of the Merage Congress. Because antisemitism is a whole-of-society problem demanding a whole-of-society response, I challenged attendees to turn ideas into action and put their influence to work. We’ll continue to leverage these new connections across the country over the coming year. More than that, we took the opportunity for AJC to help lead and teach. Our national and local experts spoke on panels, led cohorts, and helped drive conversation to share what we know works. As I looked out over a ballroom in Denver, I saw more than an attentive audience. I saw hundreds of partners ready to step up. Partners who will not resign themselves to living in a world where antisemitism becomes the norm. Who will push back against the social media algorithms that drive so much of today’s hate. They not only want to help the Jewish community respond to antisemitism. More importantly, they want to put in the work to prevent corrosive hate from taking root in the first place; to take action to prevent their country from becoming a breeding ground for extremism. The message was clear–they want something better. So should we all.

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For nearly a year, AJC has partnered with the David Merage Foundation to advance its goal of bringing society together to address antisemitism. That collaboration culminated in the Foundation’s first annual Congress for Confronting Antisemitism, convening Jewish and non-Jewish leaders from across civic life, education, faith, business, and philanthropy. AJC CEO Ted Deutch delivered remarks on the importance of a whole-of-society response to antisemitism, while AJC experts contributed critical expertise and led sessions focused on actionable solutions. Through this partnership, AJC helped provide the cross-sector guidance, leadership, and expertise needed to turn shared commitment into meaningful action against antisemitism. Now that work starts as we turn ideas into action in the dozens of communities represented.

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AJC is appalled that a planned professional development trip to Reggio Emilia, Italy, for early childhood educators affiliated with many of our Jewish communal partners was met with political litmus tests, protests, and antisemitic rhetoric. Together with the Jewish Federations of North America, the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and Prizmah, we have issued a joint statement condemning this deeply troubling incident. It reflects a broader pattern of isolating Jews and Jewish institutions, restricting opportunities for cultural exchange, learning, and mutual understanding, and demanding that Jews renounce the State of Israel. Read our full statement: https://lnkd.in/edGfEPHt

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AJC strongly condemns the reported attack by Israeli extremists on a diplomatic convoy near Taybeh in the West Bank. Violence against diplomats is not acceptable, as is the broader pattern of extremist attacks against Palestinians, IDF soldiers, security personnel, and journalists in the West Bank. We welcome the arrests made by Israeli authorities, and continue to call for full accountability for those who commit violence. As we have repeatedly said, concrete steps must be taken to prevent further violence.

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We have watched with horror as violent riots have engulfed Paris and spread across France. What we are witnessing should serve as a cautionary tale for leaders everywhere. Failing to confront extremism and allowing extremist rhetoric and behavior to become normalized erode democratic values, deepen societal divisions, and create the conditions for political violence to take hold. For more than 20 years, AJC Paris has warned that rising antisemitism and extremism are not only threats to the Jewish community, but also warning signs of a deeper crisis facing French democracy and society. We stand with the peaceful, law-abiding people of France whose lives, livelihoods, and communities have been affected by the violence, and hope for a swift restoration of peace and stability. https://lnkd.in/eDZPuz-d

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When Jewish communities are under threat, democracy is under threat, too. Across Europe, antisemitism, political extremism, and Iran’s proxy networks are converging. Anne-Sophie Sebban, AJC’s Vice President of Europe, explains what’s happening and how AJC is responding: pushing for the EU to list Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organization, tackling antisemitism in France, protecting historical truth in Poland, and warning about the dangers posed by Germany’s far-right AfD.

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