Editing American Jewish Committee

{{Short description|U.S. Jewish advocacy group}}
{{distinguish|American Jewish Congress|The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = American Jewish Committee
| image = American Jewish Committee logo.svg
| formation = {{start date and age|1906|11|11}}<ref name= founded>"[https://www.proquest.com/docview/537269211/ Hebrews Form Committee: Its Object to Give Aid Whenever The Necessity Arises]". ''The Baltimore Sun''. November 12, 1906. p. 1.</ref>
| headquarters = [[New York City]]<ref name= 990-2020>"[https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135563393/202103069349301040/full American Jewish Committee - Full Filing]". ''American Jewish Committee''. [[ProPublica]]. December 31, 2021.</ref>
| type = Human rights, civil rights, pro-Israel,<!-- cited in article --> human relations
| leader_name = [[Ted Deutch]]<ref name=leadership>"[https://www.ajc.org/ajc-ceo-ted-deutch Leadership]". ''American Jewish Committees''.</ref>
| leader_title = [[CEO]]
| leader_name2 = [[Michael L. Tichnor]]
| leader_title2 = [[President (corporation)|President]]
| leader_name3 = 
| leader_title4 = 
| leader_name4 = 
| leader_title3 = 
| tax_id = 13-5563393<ref name= 990-2020/>
| status = [[501(c)(3)]] [[nonprofit organization]]<ref name= 990-2020/>
| endowment_year = 2020
| employees = 263<ref name= 990-2020/>
| employees_year = 2020
| volunteers = 912<ref name= 990-2020/>
| volunteers_year = 2020
| revenue = $75,285,196<ref name= 990-2020/>
| revenue_year = 2020
| expenses = $49,712,638<ref name= 990-2020/>
| expenses_year = 2020
| endowment = $154,575,511<ref name= 990-2020/>
| key_people = [[Avital Leibovich]], [[Felice Gaer]], [[David Harris (advocate)|Davis Harris]]
| subsidiaries = [[Project Interchange]]<br />[[Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council]]<br />[[AJC Transatlantic Institute]]<br />AJC ACCESS
| website = {{official URL}}
}}
The '''American Jewish Committee''' ('''AJC''') is a civil rights<ref name="Reorg" /> group and Jewish [[advocacy group]] established on November 11, 1906.<ref name= founded/><ref name=MJL>{{cite web|title=The American Jewish Committee|url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Modern_History/1700-1914/America_at_the_Turn_of_the_Century/Organizational_Life/American_Jewish_Committee.shtml|publisher=MyJewishLearning|access-date=16 November 2013|archive-date=4 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104003842/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Modern_History/1700-1914/America_at_the_Turn_of_the_Century/Organizational_Life/American_Jewish_Committee.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''[[The New York Times]]'', is "widely regarded as the [[wikt:dean|dean]] of American Jewish organizations".

Besides working in favor of [[civil liberties]] for [[Jews]],<ref>{{cite web
   |url=https://matzav.com/supreme-court-receives-briefs-for-%E2%80%98born-in-yerushalayim%E2%80%99-passport-case
   |title=Supreme Court Receives Briefs For 'Born In Yerushalayim' Passport Case
   |date=June 22, 2014}}</ref> the organization has a history of fighting against forms of [[discrimination in the United States]] and working on behalf of [[social equality]], such as filing an [[Amicus curiae|amicus brief]] in the May 1954 case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' and participating in other events in the [[Civil Rights Movement]].<ref name=diego>{{cite news|url=http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2014/05/16/brown-vs-board-celebrated-60-years-later/|publisher=[[San Diego Jewish World]]. sdjewishworld.com|title='Brown vs. Board' celebrated 60 years later|date=16 May 2014|access-date= 21 June 2014}}</ref>

==Organization==
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is an international advocacy organization whose key area of focus is to promote religious and [[civil rights]] for [[Jews]] and others.<ref name=MJL /><ref name=NYT />

AJC has 25 regional offices in the [[United States]], 13 overseas offices, and 35 international partnerships with Jewish communal institutions around the world.<ref>"[http://www.ajc.org/site/c.7oJILSPwFfJSG/b.8466973/k.9B45/Where_We_Work.htm Where We Work] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209131239/http://www.ajc.org/site/c.7oJILSPwFfJSG/b.8466973/k.9B45/Where_We_Work.htm |date=2017-02-09 }}" (2016). American Jewish Committee. ajc.org. Retrieved 2016-12-24.</ref>

===Programs and institutes===
[[File:AJC_TAI.png|thumb|right|AJC Transatlantic Institute]]
* AJC's [[Jacob Blaustein]] Institute (JBI) for the Advancement of Human Rights, led by [[Felice Gaer]] from 1993 to 2024, is the only human rights division within a major Jewish organization. Under Gaer, the JBI expanded its focus to global universal rights, including women’s rights, torture victims, and the protection of political dissidents.<ref>{{cite news |title=Felice Gaer, Jewish organization official who championed human rights for all, dies at 78 |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/11/11/obituaries/felice-gaer-jewish-organization-official-who-championed-human-rights-for-all-dies-at-78 |access-date=1 December 2024 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=2024-11-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Felice Gaer, 'legendary' human-rights activist, 78 |url=https://www.jns.org/felice-gaer-legendary-human-rights-activist-78/ |access-date=1 December 2024 |work=[[Jewish News Syndicate]] |date=2024-11-13}}</ref> JBI called for international action in response to the [[Darfur genocide]] and [[ethnic cleansing]] during the [[Sudanese civil war (2023–present)|Sudanese civil war]].<ref>{{cite news |title=JBI calls for action to protect non-Arab communities in Darfur against genocide |url=https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/jbi-calls-for-action-to-protect-non-arab-communities-in-darfur-against-genocide |access-date=1 December 2024 |work=[[Radio Dabanga]] |date=2023-08-29}}</ref>
* The AJC Transatlantic Institute, based in Brussels, was opened in February 2004 to promote ties between the [[transatlantic relationship]] between the United States and Europe.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=David |title=Rebuilding Trans-Atlantic Ties |url=https://forward.com/opinion/6309/rebuilding-trans-atlantic-ties/ |access-date=18 December 2024 |work=[[The Forward]] |date=2004-02-13}}</ref>

* Alexander Young Leadership Department
** ACCESS, AJC's young professional program
* [[Arthur Belfer|Arthur and Rochelle Belfer]] Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs
* Asia Pacific Institute
* Combating Antisemitism in [[Washington, D.C.]]
* Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding in [[Jerusalem]]
* Information Center and Digital Archives
* Interreligious and Intergroup Relations
* [[Jacob Blaustein]] Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights in [[New York City|New York]]
* Jewish Religious Equality Coalition (JREC) in [[Jerusalem]]
* Lawrence and Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations in [[Berlin]]
* [[Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council]]
* [[Project Interchange]]
* Policy and Political Affairs in Washington, D.C.
* Shapiro Silverberg AJC Central Europe in [[Warsaw]]
* Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding in [[Abu Dhabi]]
* William Petschek Contemporary Jewish Life

==History==
=== 1900&ndash;1929 ===
On November 11, 1906, 81 [[American Jews|Jewish Americans]] of Central European background met in the Hotel Savoy in New York City to establish the American Jewish Committee.<ref name="founded" /> The immediate impetus for the group's formation was to speak on behalf of [[American Jews|American Jewry]] to the U.S. government about pressuring [[Russian Empire|Tsarist Russia]] to stop [[Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire|pogroms against Jews in the Russian Empire]]. More broadly, AJC sought to protect the rights of Jews all over the world and to combat anti-Jewish discrimination and antisemitism.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|title=Jewish Committee Meets|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/11/11/104712077.pdf|access-date=16 November 2013|newspaper=The NYT}}</ref><ref name="Grossman98" /><ref name="JTA20th">{{cite news |title=American Jewish Committee Holds Its Twentieth Annual Meeting |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/american-jewish-committee-holds-its-twentieth-annual-meeting |access-date=15 October 2024 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=1926-11-16}}</ref>

In its early years, the AJC worked quietly and behind the scenes, utilizing the contacts of its well-connected and self-constituted Jewish elite, who were mostly [[Reform Jews]]. The organization's early intent was simply to eliminate the barriers to full Jewish participation in American life and secure, as far as possible, Jewish equality in other countries.<ref name="Grossman98" /> Early leaders included lawyer [[Louis Marshall]], banker [[Jacob H. Schiff]], Judge [[Mayer Sulzberger]], scholar [[Cyrus Adler]], and other well-to-do and politically connected Jews.

Marshall was AJC's president from 1912 until his death in 1929.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/11/13/archives/less-antisemitism-found-in-america-president-marshall-tells-america.html?sq=marshall%2520reports%2520on%2520anti-semitism%2C%2520american%2520jewish%2520committee&scp=2&st=cse|title=LESS ANTI-SEMITISM FOUND IN AMERICA; President Marshall Tells American Jewish Committee That Agitation is Waning.15,393,815 JEWS IN WORLDCommunist Policy Has Improved Their Condition in Russia-- Election of Officers|date=13 November 1922|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> While president, Marshall is credited with making the AJC a leading voice in the 1920s against immigration restrictions. Additionally, he succeeded in forcing [[Henry Ford]] to cease publication and distribution of his antisemitic newspaper ''[[The Dearborn Independent]]''. Ford was also made to apologize publicly and pay a cash settlement.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/258746/pdf   |title=Confronting Antisemitism in America: Louis Marshall and Henry Ford    |author=Robert S. Rifkind  |journal=American Jewish History
 |year=2008|volume=94  |issue=1–2  |pages=71–90 |doi=10.1353/ajh.0.0053  |s2cid=161599751 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-resources/popular-topics/henry-ford-and-anti-semitism-a-complex-story
|quote=Ford agreed to release a formal apology, ... cash settlement |title=Henry Ford and Anti-Semitism: A Complex Story}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|publisher=JTA ([[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]])  |url=https://www.jta.org/1927/07/10/archive/louis-marshall-accepts-henry-fords-apology-for-anti-jewish-attacks-replies-to-statement  |title=Louis Marshall Accepts Henry Ford's Apology for Anti-jewish attacks
   |date=10 July 1927}}</ref>

In 1914, the AJC helped create the [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee]], established to aid Jewish victims of [[World War I]]. After the war, Marshall went to Europe and used his influence to have provisions guaranteeing the rights of minorities inserted into the peace treaties.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Litvac Glaser|first=Zhava|date=2015|title=Refugees And Relief: The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee And European Jews In Cuba And Shanghai 1938-1943|url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1560&context=gc_etds|journal=City University of New York (CUNY) Academic Works|pages=11}}</ref>

In the 1920s, AJC fought virulent [[Antisemitism in Romania|antisemitism and pogroms in Roumania]],<ref name="JTA20th" /> Russian Jewish refugees in Turkey, and [[Jews in Yemen]]. It also filed complaints with the [[Council of the League of Nations]] after Norway passed a law banning ''[[schechita]]'', Jewish ritual slaughter.<ref name="Adler" /> After the [[1929 Palestine riots]], AJC asked the U.S. government to ensure the British government protected the Jews in [[Mandatory Palestine]].<ref>{{cite news |title=American Jewish Committee Urges Calm in Present Palestine Tribulation |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/american-jewish-committee-urges-calm-in-present-palestine-tribulation |access-date=15 October 2024 |date=1929-08-29}}</ref>

In the late 1920s, AJC advocated for reform of the [[Immigration Act of 1924]], including repeal of the [[National Origins Formula]] that effectively made immigration from [[Eastern Europe]], where the vast majority of the [[Jewish diaspora]] lived at the time, impossible.<ref name="Adler">{{cite news |title=Dr. Cyrus Adler Unanimously Elected President of American Jewish Committee |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/dr-cyrus-adler-unanimously-elected-president-of-american-jewish-committee |access-date=15 October 2024 |date=1929-11-12}}</ref>

After Marshall's death, [[Cyrus Adler]] was unanimously elected AJC's president at the organization's annual meeting in November 1929.<ref name="Adler" />

===1930s and 1940s ===
The AJC advocated finding places of refuge for Jewish refugees from [[Adolf Hitler]] in the 1930s, but had minimal success. After World War II broke out in 1939, the AJC stressed that the war was for democracy and discouraged emphasis on Hitler's anti-Jewish policies lest a backlash identify it as a "Jewish war" and increase antisemitism in the United States. When the war ended in 1945, it urged a human rights program upon the [[United Nations]] and proved vital in enlisting the support that made possible the human rights provisions in the UN Charter.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Orbach |first=William |date=1982 |title=Shattering the Shackles of Powerlessness: The Debate Surrounding the Anti-Nazi Boycott of 1933-41 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1396196 |journal=Modern Judaism |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=149–169 |doi=10.1093/mj/2.2.149 |jstor=1396196 |issn=0276-1114|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During the interwar period, AJC was the most powerful Jewish organization in the United States. The group was decidedly non-Zionist not in principle against the State of Israel, but in opposition to Jewish nationalism being the ''raison d'etre'' of American Jews.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Magid |first1=Shaul |title=The forgotten history of American Jewish dissent against Zionism |url=https://www.972mag.com/geoffrey-levin-zionism-dissent-american-jews/ |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=972 Magazine |date=2024-02-14}}</ref> The group faced a crisis in the 1940s due to its president Joseph Proskauer's opposition to Zionism, and AJC left the umbrella group [[American Jewish Conference]] due to its position.<ref name="JTA100th" />

The AJC "worked to contain nativist sentiment in America rather than work to open America's doors to refugees" during [[the Holocaust]]. For fear of provoking an increase in antisemitic sentiment, the AJC opposed public activism.<ref name="Nazi Collaborators">{{cite journal |journal=Yad Vashem Studies |date=2002 |pages=369–404 |first=Haim |last=Genizi |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/articles/academic/american-jewish-committee-and-admission-of-nazi-collaborators.html |title=The American Jewish Committee and the Admission of Nazi Collaborators into the United States, 1948-1950 |publisher=[[Yad Vashem]] |accessdate=2023-03-23}}</ref> They have been widely criticized for their inaction during the Holocaust; historian and AJC National Director of Jewish Communal Affairs Steven Bayme said AJC leaders "never understood the uniqueness of Nazism and its 'war against the Jews'."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bayme|first=Steven|journal=American Jewish Archives Journal|via=[[American Jewish Archives]]|title=American Jewish Leadership Confronts the Holocaust: Revisiting Naomi Cohen's Thesis and the American Jewish Committee|url=http://americanjewisharchives.org/publications/journal/PDF/2009_61_02_00_Bayme.pdf|access-date=16 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101033802/http://americanjewisharchives.org/publications/journal/PDF/2009_61_02_00_Bayme.pdf |archive-date=2020-11-01|page=164}}</ref> This cautious approach changed after the war, when the AJC began openly lobbying for a new immigration law allowing entrance to the United States for displaced persons from Europe. This law also led to Nazi collaborators entering the United States, though it remains unclear whether a more restrictive policy would have avoided this outcome.<ref name="Nazi Collaborators"/>

===Post World War II===
After World War II, AJC changed its stance on the [[State of Israel]].<ref name="JTA100th" /> In 1950, AJC President Jacob Blaustein reached an agreement with Israeli prime minister [[David Ben-Gurion]] stating that the political allegiance of American Jews was solely to their country of residence. By the Six-Day War of 1967, the AJC had become a passionate defender of the Jewish state, shedding old inhibitions to espouse the centrality of [[Jewish peoplehood]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The organization worked successfully to include a human rights provision in the [[UN Charter]].<ref name="JTA100th" />

===Anti-Communism===
The [[Rosenberg Case]] severely alarmed the AJC and other Jewish organizations, and the AJC supported the Rosenbergs'  execution.<ref>{{cite book |last=Feffer |first=Andrew |author-link= |date=2019 |title=Bad Faith: Teachers, Liberalism, and the Origins of McCarthyism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIuUDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22judenrat%22+%22rosenberg%22+%22American+Jewish+Committee%22&pg=PT281 |location=The Bronx |publisher=Fordham University Press |page= |isbn=9780823281176}}
</ref> Writing from [[Sing Sing]], Julius Rosenberg charged that "self-appointed leaders of Jewish organizations" were behaving like an "American [[Judenrat]]", accusing the AJC's Solomon Andhil Fineberg of spreading a false rumor that the Rosenbergs believed they were being prosecuted because they were Jewish.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meeropol |first=Michael |author-link= |date=1994 |title=The Rosenberg Letters: A Complete Edition of the Prison Correspondence of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=84suAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22American+Jewish+Committee%22+%22American+Judenrat%22&pg=PA491 |location=New York, London |publisher=Routledge |page=491 |isbn=9781135791148}}
</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=David Harry |author-link= |date=1988 |title=The Party of Fear: From Nativist Movements to the New Right in American History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mH_zVWsUzlUC&dq=%22American+Jewish+Committee%22+%22American+Judenrat%22&pg=PA292 |location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |page=292 |isbn=9780807817728}}
</ref>

During the [[Second Red Scare]], the AJC sent a representative to testify before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], emphasizing that "Judaism and Communism are utterly incompatible." The AJC shared files with HUAC and also employed a staff member to investigate alleged Communist infiltration among the Jewish community.<ref name="Rosenberg">{{cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/julius-and-ethel-rosenberg/ |title=Julius and Ethel Rosenberg |publisher=My Jewish Learning |accessdate=2023-03-31}}</ref> At the organization's conference in October 1950, the executive committee adopted a resolution stating that the protection and advancement of civil liberties and civil rights could not be accomplished with combatting communism in the United States. AJC chairman Irving M. Engel said that "loyalty to the fundamental basis of Judaism requires all Jews to stand with the vanguard in the struggle against totalitarianism. Our attitude as Americans...should be positive and vigorous against communism. Let all of us lead the attack against this common foe of America."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/archive/american-jewish-committee-calls-for-fight-on-communism-as-part-of-civil-rights-drive |title=American Jewish Committee Calls for Fight on Communism As Part of Civil Rights Drive |date=20 March 2015 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |accessdate=2023-04-01}}</ref>

===Civil Rights Movement===
As part of broader [[Jews in the civil rights movement|Jewish involvement in the Civil Rights Movement]], AJC took the position that the rights of Jews in the United States could be best protected by pursuing equality of all Americans.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015|reason=for this para. up to here}} AJC commissioned the social science research of black psychologist [[Kenneth and Mamie Clark|Kenneth Clark]], which demonstrated how segregation affected black children. AJC cited Clark's research in its [[amicus curiae brief]] in support of [[Oliver Brown (American activist)|Oliver Brown]] during the 1954 [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] case ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''. The court cited Clark's research in its decision establishing racial segregation in public schools were unconstitutional.<ref name="Dreier">{{cite news |last1=Dreier |first1=Peter |title=Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, and American Jews |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/martin-luther-king-jr-the-civil-rights-movement-and-american-jews/ |access-date=15 October 2024 |work=[[Los Angeles Review of Books]] |date=2020-01-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2023 |title=BRIEF AMICI CURIAE OF [HE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE; |url=http://blackfreedom.proquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/grutter55.pdf |access-date=June 5, 2023 |publisher=Proquest}}</ref>

AJC, along with the ADL and American Jewish Congress, believed that [[Racial quota|racial quotas]] were unconstitutional, and Jewish groups opposed their use in determining admission in higher education in the United States. For this reason, AJC celebrated the landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court decision in ''[[Regents of the University of California v. Bakke]]'' that struck down racial quotas in university admissions. Despite the Bakke decision, AJC supported [[affirmative action]] programs for disadvantaged groups. By 2003, the organization's opposition to affirmative action had tempered. The AJC's director of public policy Jeffrey Sinesky said that "It's the quota concept that's anathema" after the organization submitted a brief in defense of the [[Affirmative action at the University of Michigan|University of Michigan]]'s affirmative action program.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/archive/jewish-organizations-hail-court-ruling-in-bakke-case-say-it-vindicates-their-stand-against-quotas |title=Jewish Organizations Hail Court Ruling in Bakke Case; Say It Vindicates Their Stand Against Quotas |date=20 March 2015 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |accessdate=2023-04-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2003/01/29/lifestyle/jews-temper-views-on-affirmative-action |title=Jews temper views on affirmative action |date=29 January 2003 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |accessdate=2023-04-01}}</ref>

According to the ''New York Times'', the AJC had taken a leading role in the struggle for equal rights for African Americans in the United States by the early 1990s.<ref name="Reorg" />

=== 1960s and 1970s ===
Through direct dialogue with the [[Catholic Church]], the AJC played a leading role in improving [[Jewish-Christian relations]], leading the [[Holy See|Vatican]] to issue the ''[[Nostra aetate]]'' in 1965, absolving [[Jewish deicide|Jews of collective responsibility]] for the death of [[Jesus]].<ref name="JTA100th" /> The American Jewish Committee, along with the Synagogue Council of America, and the American Ethical Union each submitted briefs in [[Engel v. Vitale]] urging the US Supreme Court to rule that the public school prayer was unconstitutional.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/370/421/|title=Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)|website=Justia Law}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 1961 |title=BRIEF OF AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE AND ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE OF B'NAI B'RITH AS AMICI CURIAE |url=https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/civil-rights/adl-in-the-courts/amicus-briefs/brief-pdfs/ab-1961-engel-v-vitale.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205174754/https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/civil-rights/adl-in-the-courts/amicus-briefs/brief-pdfs/ab-1961-engel-v-vitale.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2022 |access-date=6 June 2023 |website=adl.org}}</ref>

Before the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, the AJC was officially "non-Zionist". It had long been ambivalent about [[Zionism]] as possibly opening up Jews to the charge of dual loyalty, but it supported the [[creation of Israel]] in 1947–48, after the United States backed the [[partition of Palestine]]. It was the first American Jewish organization to open a permanent office in Israel.<ref>{{cite news|title=American Jews and Israel Have Never Been Closer|url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/01/25/american-jews-and-israel-have-never-been-closer/|access-date=16 November 2013|newspaper=The Algemeiner}}</ref>

In the 1970s, the AJC spearheaded the fight to pass anti-boycott legislation to counter the Arab League boycott of Israel. In particular, Japan's defection<ref>{{cite news |last=Helm |first=Leslie |title=Japan Asks Arab States to End Boycott of Israel : Trade: Move could boost Tokyo's role as peacemaker in Mideast.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-05-mn-1377-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=20 January 2012|date=5 December 1992}}</ref> from the boycott was attributed to AJC persuasion. In 1975, the AJC became the first Jewish organization to campaign against the UN's "Zionism is Racism" [[Resolution 3379]], when briefly integrated to [[Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations|President's Conference]] in order to join the touristic boycott against Mexico, after the [[World Conference on Women, 1975]], the event in which Arab countries, the [[Soviet Bloc|Soviet bloc]], and [[Non-Aligned Movement]] countries impulsed the initial discussion that resulted in [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379|Resolution 3379]]. Along with other American Jewish organizations, the AJC announced the suspension of all their trips to Mexico as an expression of "the wish of some Jews and Jewish organizations to boycott Mexico".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Katz Gugenheim|first=Ariela|url=http://libcat.calacademy.org/title/boicot-el-pleito-de-echeverria-con-israel/oclc/1122578103%26referer%3Dbrief_results|title=Boicot. El pleito de Echeverría con Israel|publisher=Universidad Iberoamericana/Cal y Arena|year=2019|isbn=978-607-8564-17-0|location=Mexico|language=Spanish|access-date=2021-10-29|archive-date=2022-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410191926/http://libcat.calacademy.org/title/boicot-el-pleito-de-echeverria-con-israel/oclc/1122578103%26referer%3Dbrief_results|url-status=dead}}</ref> They did this is spite of their anti-boycott tradition. Finally, the campaign against Resolution 3379 succeeded in 1991, as it was revoked through [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379|Resolution 4686]]. AJC played a leading role in breaking Israel's diplomatic isolation at the UN by helping it gain acceptance in WEOG (West Europe and Others), one of the UN's five regional groups.

The AJC was active in the campaign to gain emigration rights for Jews living in the Soviet Union; in 1964 it was one of the founders of the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, which in 1971 was superseded by the [[National Conference on Soviet Jewry]].

=== 1980s and 1990s ===
Founded in 1982, Project Interchange runs seminars in Israel for influential Americans.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hispanic leaders boost Latino-Jewish ties|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4144947,00.html|access-date=16 November 2013|newspaper=Ynet|date=2011-11-11}}</ref>

In December 1987, the AJC's Washington representative, [[David Harris (advocate)|David Harris]], organized the [[Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews|Freedom Sunday Rally on behalf of Soviet Jewry]]. Approximately 250,000 people attended the D.C. rally, which demanded that the Soviet government allow Jewish emigration from the [[Soviet Union|USSR]].<ref>{{cite news
   |url=http://www.jta.org/1987/12/09/archive/human-rights-arms-control-top-reagan-gorbachev-agenda
   |title=Human Rights, Arms Control Top Reagan-Gorbachev Agenda
   |date=December 9, 1987 |website=JTA ([[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]])
   |access-date=2015-09-19}}</ref> In 1990, David Harris become executive director. Under his leadership, the AJC became increasingly involved in international affairs. Regular meetings with foreign diplomats both in the United States and in their home countries were supplemented each September by what came to be called a "diplomatic marathon," a series of meetings with high-level representatives of foreign countries who were in New York for the [[United Nations General Assembly|UN General Assembly]] session. The AJC annual meeting was also moved from New York to Washington, D.C., so that more government officials and foreign diplomats might participate.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In 1990, the AJC conducted a major restructuring, laying off 40 of its 275 staff and cutting $1 million from its $16 million annual budget, in order to focus its work on intergroup relations. The organization ended its activities in Western Europe and South America and merged into international relations offices in New York and Washington. According to Rabbi [[Arthur Hertzberg]], the AJC had been challenged by more aggressive groups. The [[Anti-Defamation League|ADL]] and [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] had taken a more strident position on the antisemitism issue, while the [[American Jewish Congress]] had attracted liberals with its willingness to criticize the policies of Israeli prime minister [[Yitzhak Shamir]].<ref name="Reorg" />

In 1998, the AJC established a full-time presence in Germany—the first American Jewish organization to do so—opening an office in Berlin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/2009/12/09/news-opinion/world/german-army-american-jewish-committee-expand-ties|title=German army, American Jewish Committee expand ties|last=Oster|first=Marcy|date=December 9, 2009|access-date=16 November 2013}}</ref>

In 1999, the AJC ran an ad campaign in support of the [[NATO]]'s [[Kosovo War|intervention in Kosovo]].<ref>American Jewish Committee. "AJC Runs Ads Applauding Nato Action In Kosovo; Urges Public To Also Express Appreciation". 15 April 1999. Available online: http://www.charitywire.com/charity11/00477.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718210208/http://www.charitywire.com/charity11/00477.html |date=2008-07-18 }}</ref>

=== 2000s ===
In 2000, the AJC helped establish the [[Atlanta Jewish Film Festival]] in [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]], the largest Jewish film festival in the world.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ajff.org/missionhistory|title=Our Mission and History|work=Atlanta Jewish Film Festival|access-date=2017-03-31|language=en}}</ref>

In 2001, the AJC became official partners with the Geneva-based [[UN Watch]].<ref>{{cite web|title=UN Watch, AJC Seal Partnership|date=4 January 2001|url=http://www.charitywire.com/charity11/00664.html|access-date=16 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012010100/http://www.charitywire.com/charity11/00664.html|archive-date=12 October 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 2005, as part of its continuing efforts to respond to humanitarian crises, the organization contributed [[US$]]2.5 million to relief funds and reconstruction projects for the victims of the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake|South Asian tsunami]] and [[Hurricane Katrina]] in the US.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.835985/k.77CF/Humanitarian_Campaigns.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051206005233/http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.835985/k.77CF/Humanitarian_Campaigns.htm|archive-date=2005-12-06|url-status=dead|title=Humanitarian Campaigns - AJC|date=December 6, 2005}}</ref>

By its 100th anniversary in 2006, AJC had 33 chapters in the United States and a presence in 20 countries. Organization leaders marked the occasion with a multi-country tour across Europe and the Middle East.<ref name="JTA100th">{{cite news |title=Ajcommittee Marks 100 Years with Global Diplomatic Journey |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/ajcommittee-marks-100-years-with-global-diplomatic-journey |access-date=18 December 2024 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=2005-04-04}}</ref> Nearly 2,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., to celebrate its 100th Annual Meeting that May, and [[George W. Bush|President George W. Bush]], U.N. Secretary General [[Kofi Annan]], and German chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] attended a reception in its honor. These individuals gave credit to the American Jewish Committee for protecting Jewish Security and human rights around the world.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sanua|first=Marianne Rachel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5p_MhA5shT4C&q=American+Jewish+Committee&pg=PR9|title=Let Us Prove Strong: The American Jewish Committee, 1945-2006|date=2007|publisher=UPNE|isbn=978-1-58465-631-9|language=en}}</ref>

AJC became increasingly involved in the advocacy of [[United States energy independence|energy independence for the U.S]]. on the grounds that this would reduce dependence on foreign, especially Arab, oil; boost the American economy; and improve the environment. AJC urged Congress and several presidential administrations to take action toward this goal, and called upon the private sector to be more energy-conscious. It adopted "Green" policies for itself institutionally, and in 2011 earned [[LEED certification]], denoting that its New York headquarters was energy efficient and environmentally sound.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}

As part of a new strategic plan adopted in 2009, the AJC said it envisioned itself as the "Global Center for Jewish and Israel Advocacy" and the "Central 'Jewish Address' for Intergroup Relations and Human Rights." Its new tagline was "Global Jewish Advocacy."<ref name="c-span">{{cite web|url=http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/293263-1 |title=Global Jewish Advocacy - C-SPAN Video Library |publisher=C-spanvideo.org |date=2010-04-30 |access-date=2012-10-19}}</ref>

===2010s  ===
AJC diplomatic efforts since 2010 include opposition to Iran's program to attain nuclear capability;<ref>{{cite news|title=Iran's nuclear plans must be deterred|url=http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20111110/COLUMNIST/111109477|access-date=16 November 2013|newspaper=heraldtribune|date=November 10, 2011|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222021420/http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20111110/COLUMNIST/111109477|url-status=dead}}</ref> a campaign to get the European Union to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization;<ref>{{cite news|title=Time for EU to call Hezbollah a terrorist group |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/06/3220718/time-for-eu-to-call-hezbollah.html|access-date=16 November 2013}}</ref> preserving the right of Jews to practice circumcision in Germany; and urging the government of Greece to take action against the neo-Nazi [[Golden Dawn (political party)|Golden Dawn party]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Ellis|first=Tom|title=AJC executive director asks for tough measures against Golden Dawn, praises arrests|url=http://ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite3_1_29/09/2013_520762|access-date=16 November 2013}}</ref>

In October 2011, the AJC issued a joint statement with the [[Anti-Defamation League]] urging American Jews to support a Joint Unity Pledge stating: "America's friendship with Israel is an emotional, moral and strategic bond that has always transcended politics." It urged that "now is the time to reaffirm that Israel's well-being is best served, as it always has been, by American voices raised together in unshakeable support for our friend and ally."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://forward.com/israel/144968/proposed-unity-pledge-spurs-more-debate/|title=Proposed Unity Pledge Spurs Debate|last=Guttman|first=Nathan|date=October 27, 2011|work=The Forward|access-date=October 19, 2012}}</ref>

The statement aroused a storm of protest from Jewish opponents of [[2012 United States presidential election|President Obama's re-election]], who perceived it as a call to avoid criticizing the president's policies toward Israel. In the pages of the ''[[Wall Street Journal]],'' former Under Secretary of Defense [[Douglas J. Feith|Douglas Feith]] asked: "Since when have American supporters of Israel believed that a candidate's attitudes toward Israel should be kept out of electoral politics? Since never."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Feith |first1=Douglas J. |title=Israel Should Be a U.S. Campaign Issue |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203687504577005812793260468 |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=November 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190731170802/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203687504577005812793260468 |archive-date=2019-07-31 |url-status=unfit}}</ref>{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}} David Harris responded that the statement was intended to preserve the tradition of bipartisan support for Israel and prevent it from becoming "a dangerous political football." While Harris recognized the right of anyone in the Jewish community to take a partisan position, he stressed the need for "strong advocacy in both parties" at a time of looming international difficulties for the Jewish state.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robert Wiener|title=In NJ talk, AJC director defends 'unity' pledge|url=http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/7318/in-nj-talk-ajc-director-defends-unity-pledge#.UjneMz9aHRY|access-date=16 November 2013|newspaper=[[NJ Jewish News]]|date=November 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202152055/http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/7318/in-nj-talk-ajc-director-defends-unity-pledge#.UjneMz9aHRY|archive-date=2 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Along with other agencies such as the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] and the [[Union for Reform Judaism]], the AJC condemned a move in mid-2014 by the [[Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)|U.S. Presbyterian Church]] to divest from companies that do business with [[Israel settlement]]s. An AJC statement asserted that the divestment is just one incident of the U.S. church group "demonizing Israel", referring to "one-sided reports and study guides, such as 'Zionism Unsettled'" as proof of [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionist]] sentiments.<ref>Gruen, Sarah. "[http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Jewish-groups-condemn-US-Presbyterian-Church-vote-to-divest-from-Israel-360215 Jewish groups condemn US Presbyterian Church vote to divest from Israel]" the ''[[Jerusalem Post]]''. June 22, 2014.</ref> In 2016, the AJC and [[Islamic Society of North America]] formed the [[Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council]] to address rising bigotry against Jews and Muslims in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-york/muslim-jewish-council-forms-amid-spike-hate-crime|title=Muslim-Jewish Council Forms Amid Spike In Hate Crime: Launch of first such national group buttressed by post-election bias incidents against the two groups|first=Steve|last=Lipman|work=The Jewish Week|date=November 16, 2016|access-date=November 17, 2016|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117190734/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-york/muslim-jewish-council-forms-amid-spike-hate-crime|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 22 February 2019, the AJC condemned the [[Otzma Yehudit]] party, calling its views "reprehensible." The AJC statement said Otzma Yehudit's views "do not reflect the core values that are the very foundation of the State of Israel."<ref name="staff">{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/major-us-jewish-groups-slam-racist-and-reprehensible-extremist-israeli-party/|title=AIPAC to boycott 'racist and reprehensible' Kahanist party wooed by Netanyahu|last=staff|first=T. O. I.|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-23}}</ref> The AJC statement came after the [[The Jewish Home|Bayit Yehudi]] party merged with Otzma Yehudit and the new joint slate appeared likely to win enough votes to earn seats in the next Knesset as well as ministerial roles for some of its members.<ref name="staff" /> No members of Otzma Yehudit were elected.

=== 2020s ===
In early 2022, the AJC released its fourth annual "State of Antisemitism in America" report and later that year the organization announced its "Call to Action on Antisemitism" playbook.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-25 |title=American Jewish Committee Releases 2021 "State of Antisemitism in America Report" {{!}} AJC |url=https://www.ajc.org/news/american-jewish-committee-releases-2021-state-of-antisemitism-in-america-report |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=www.ajc.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-06 |title=American Jewish Committee Issues Call to Action for Government, Other Institutions to Respond to and Prevent Antisemitism {{!}} AJC |url=https://www.ajc.org/news/american-jewish-committee-issues-call-to-action-for-government-other-institutions-to-respond |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=www.ajc.org |language=en}}</ref> After a string of high-profile antisemitic incidents, including comments made by [[Kanye West]],<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Kanye West praises Hitler, calls himself a Nazi in unhinged interview |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/doubling-down-on-antisemitism-kanye-west-praises-hitler-in-unhinged-interview/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Allyn |first=Bobby |title=Adidas cuts ties with Ye over antisemitic remarks that caused an uproar |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/10/25/1131285970/adidas-ye-kanye-west-antisemitic |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=NPR |language=en-US}}</ref> the organization participated in a White House round-table on antisemitism with Second Gentleman [[Doug Emhoff]].<ref>{{Cite web |title='An epidemic of hate': Emhoff hosts White House roundtable amid rising antisemitism |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/07/doug-emhoff-white-house-antisemitism-00072776 |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kanno-Youngs |first=Zolan |date=2022-12-08 |title=Emhoff Emerges as Face of White House Fight Against Antisemitism |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/us/politics/doug-emhoff-antisemitism.html |access-date=2023-02-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

After more than years as CEO, David Harris retired in 2022 and was replaced by South Florida congressman [[Ted Deutch]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Friedman |first=Gabe |date=2022-02-28 |title=Rep. Ted Deutch leaving politics to lead American Jewish Committee |url=https://www.jta.org/2022/02/28/politics/rep-ted-deutch-leaving-politics-to-lead-american-jewish-committee |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magid |first1=Jacob |last2=Agencies |title=Senior Democrat stepping away from Congress to become CEO of Jewish advocacy group |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-democrat-stepping-away-from-congress-to-become-ceo-of-jewish-advocacy-group/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Weiss |first=Melissa |date=2022-02-28 |title=Rep. Ted Deutch to succeed David Harris as American Jewish Committee CEO |url=https://jewishinsider.com/2022/02/rep-ted-deutch-to-succeed-david-harris-as-ajc-ceo/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Jewish Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>

On February 10, 2023, CEO Ted Deutch joined Emhoff, UN Undersecretary General [[Melissa Fleming]], U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. [[Linda Thomas-Greenfield]], and Ambassador [[Deborah Lipstadt]] on a panel about antisemitism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wagenheim |first=Mike |title=Second gentleman brings fight against Jew-hatred to the United Nations |url=https://www.jns.org/second-gentleman-brings-fight-against-jew-hatred-to-the-united-nations/ |access-date=2023-02-11 |website=Jewish News Syndicate |date=10 February 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Muslim-Jewish relations==
In January 2020, AJC and the Mecca-based [[Muslim World League]] led a "groundbreaking" joint delegation of Muslims and Jews to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the [[liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/islamic-leaders-make-groundbreaking-visit-to-auschwitz|title=Islamic leaders make 'groundbreaking' visit to Auschwitz|date=2020-01-23|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-us|access-date=2020-04-28}}</ref> The trip was the most senior Islamic delegation to ever visit Auschwitz.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-saudi-religious-leader-set-to-make-groundbreaking-visit-to-auschwitz/|title=Senior Saudi religious leader set for 'groundbreaking' visit to Auschwitz Thurs.|last=Rasgon|first=Adam|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-28}}</ref> As a part of the visit, AJC CEO David Harris and MWL Secretary-General [[Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa]] published a joint op-ed in the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' on how the delegation united Muslims and Jews.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=David |last2=Al-Issa |first2=Mohammad |date=28 January 2020 |title=Commentary: How Auschwitz has united Muslims and Jews |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-opinion-auschwitz-holocaust-muslims-jews-20200128-nv4wm2nadzctba3l2otfslwy3a-story.html |access-date=2020-04-28 |website=chicagotribune.com}}</ref>

ACCESS, AJC's young professional wing, and the [[Mimouna Association]], an organization of young Muslim leaders in Morocco, have partnered since 2014 on joint missions to Israel and Morocco, conferences and programming on [[History of the Jews in Morocco|Jewish heritage in Morocco]], and content highlighting commonalities between Jews and Arabs.<ref>{{cite news |title='2,500 years of Jewish history in Morocco created unique ties between Morocco and the Jewish people' |url=https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/01/05/2500-years-of-jewish-history-in-morocco-created-unique-ties-between-morocco-and-the-jewish-people/ |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=[[Israel Hayom]] |date=2021-01-05}}</ref> Sarah Milgrim, killed in the [[2025 Capital Jewish Museum shooting]], participated in an AJC-Mimouna delegation to Morocco.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ryan |first1=Kate |title=‘Grieving and exhausted’: Israeli Embassy couple killed in ‘targeted attack’ remembered |url=https://wtop.com/dc/2025/05/grieving-and-exhausted-israeli-embassy-coupled-killed-in-targeted-attack-remembered/ |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=[[WTOP]] |date=2025-05-22}}</ref>

===Abraham Accords===
Under CEO David Harris, AJC pioneered quiet diplomacy in the Arab world before the [[Abraham Accords]].<ref name="AccidentalActivist">{{cite news |last1=Rosenblatt |first1=Gary |title=How an accidental activist became the ‘foreign minister of the Jewish people’ |url=https://www.jta.org/2022/09/28/united-states/how-an-accidental-activist-became-the-foreign-minister-of-the-jewish-people |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=2022-09-28}}</ref>

In June 2021, AJC opened an office in Abu Dhabi, its first office in an Arab country and its 13th office outside the United States to build on the [[Abraham Accords]]. The office's inaugural leader was Marc Sievers, former U.S. ambassador to Oman.<ref>{{cite news |title=American Jewish Committee opens office in Abu Dhabi, first in Arab country |url=https://www.jns.org/american-jewish-committee-opens-in-abu-dhabi-first-in-arab-country/ |access-date=6 October 2024 |work=[[Jewish News Syndicate]] |date=2021-06-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Spiro |first1=Amy |title=American Jewish Committee opens UAE office, its first in an Arab nation |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/american-jewish-committee-opens-uae-office-its-first-in-an-arab-nation/ |access-date=6 October 2024 |work=[[Times of Israel]] |date=2021-06-08}}</ref>

AJC partnered with TV Abraham, launched by researcher Ahmed Charai, in April 2025 to produce content about diplomacy and shared values.<ref>{{cite news |title=TV Abraham: A platform for U.S.-led diplomacy and regional prosperity |url=https://www.jpost.com/international/article-850088 |access-date=28 May 2025 |work=[[Jerusalem Post]] |date=2025-04-14}}</ref>

==Influence and reputation==
AJC is the oldest Jewish defense and community relations organization in the United States,<ref name="Grossman98">{{cite journal |last1=Grossman |first1=Lawrence |title=Transformation Through Crisis: The American Jewish Committee and the Six-Day War |journal=[[American Jewish History]] |date=March 1998 |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=27–54 |doi=10.1353/ajh.1998.0004 |jstor=23885712 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23885712 |access-date=7 May 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and is widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish organizations.<ref name="Reorg" >{{cite news|last=GOLDMAN|first=ARI|title=Jewish Group Faces Reorganization|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/13/us/jewish-group-faces-reorganization.html|access-date=16 November 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=February 13, 1990}}</ref><ref name= "PresentTense" /> According to historian [[Jonathan Sarna]], AJC is known for its deep research of issues and working behind the scenes with high-level international contacts.<ref name="JTA100th" />

==Publications==
===Library===
In 1930, the AJC founded a library at its Manhattan headquarters as a resource for its staff to research and write reports. According to historian [[Jonathan Sarna]], the AJC's library was for the Jewish community what the [[Library of Congress]] was for the [[U.S. Congress]] At its peak, the library held 13,000 titles such as internal memos and reports on Jewish organizations, publications on race, religion, civil rights, and the Holocaust. In September 2012, the AJC shut down the library, with holdings going to [[Yeshiva University]], [[Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion]], the [[Jewish Theological Seminary of America|Jewish Theological Seminary]], [[Berman Jewish Policy Archive]], and the [[Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Berger |first1=Paul |title=Trove Up for Grabs as Library Slims Down |url=https://forward.com/news/163092/trove-up-for-grabs-as-library-slims-down/ |access-date=20 May 2024 |work=[[The Forward]] |date=2012-09-20}}</ref>

===Magazines===
The AJC published liberal magazine ''[[Present Tense (magazine)|Present Tense]]'' from 1973 until 1990, when AJC ceased publication as part of an organizational reorganization. [[Murray Polner]] was the magazine's first and only editor. ''Present Tense'' often published articles critical of Israel and the American Jewish establishment.<ref name= "PresentTense" >{{cite news |title='Present Tense' to cease publishing|url=https://www.jta.org/1990/02/08/archive/ajcommittee-board-approves-plan-to-restructure-agency-radically|access-date=11 June 2019|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|date=8 February 1990|first=Allison|last=Kaplan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen|first1=Roger|author-link1=Roger Cohen|title=Liberal Jewish Bimonthly Magazine to Close|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/08/us/liberal-jewish-bimonthly-magazine-to-close.html|access-date=11 June 2019|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 8, 1990}}</ref> The organization also published conservative journal ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]''.<ref name="Reorg" />

===New antisemitism===
{{see also|New antisemitism}}
A 2007 essay, "''Progressive''<!-- Emphasis in original --> Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism" by professor [[Alvin H. Rosenfeld]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/PROGRESSIVE_JEWISH_THOUGHT.PDF |title=Progressive Jewish thought |publisher=Ajc.org |access-date=2012-10-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312025251/http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/PROGRESSIVE_JEWISH_THOUGHT.PDF |archive-date=2010-03-12 |url-status=dead}}</ref> published on the AJC website, criticized Jewish critics of Israel by name, particularly the editors and contributors to ''Wrestling With Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict'' (Grove Press), a 2003 collection of essays edited by [[Tony Kushner]] and [[Alisa Solomon]]. The essay accused these writers of participating in an "onslaught against Zionism and the Jewish State," which he considered a veiled form of supporting a rise in antisemitism.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/arts/31jews.html |work=The New York Times |first=Patricia |last=Cohen |title=Essay Linking Liberal Jews and Anti-Semitism Sparks a Furor |date=31 January 2007}}</ref>

In an editorial, the Jewish newspaper ''[[The Forward]]'' called Rosenfeld's essay "a shocking tissue of slander" whose intent was to "turn Jews against liberalism and silence critics." [[Richard Cohen (columnist)|Richard Cohen]] remarked that the essay "has given license to the most intolerant and narrow-minded of Israel's defenders so that, as the AJC concedes in my case, any veering from orthodoxy is met with censure ... the most powerful of all post-Holocaust condemnations—anti-Semite—is diluted beyond recognition."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/05/AR2007020501249.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |first=Richard |last=Cohen |title=Cheapening a Fight Against Hatred |date=6 February 2007}}</ref>

The essay was also criticized by Rabbi [[Michael Lerner (rabbi)|Michael Lerner]]<ref>{{cite web|last=Michael |first=Rabbi |url=http://baltimorechronicle.com/2007/020207LERNER.shtml |title=There Is No New Anti-Semitism |work=Baltimore Chronicle |date=2007-02-02 |access-date=2012-10-19}}</ref> and in op-eds in the ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/08/matthewyglesias |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Matthew |last=Yglesias |title=Are we all anti-semites now? |date=8 February 2007}}</ref> and the ''[[Boston Globe]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/02/07/all_critics_of_israel_arent_anti_semites/ |work=The Boston Globe |first=Stanley I. |last=Kutler |title=All critics of Israel aren't anti-Semites |date=7 February 2007}}</ref>

In a ''[[Jerusalem Post]]'' op-ed, AJC Executive Director [[David Harris (advocate)|David Harris]] explained why the organization published Rosenfeld's essay in 2007:

:Rosenfeld has courageously taken on the threat that arises when a Jewish imprimatur is given to the campaign to challenge Israel's very legitimacy. He has the right to express his views no less than those whom he challenges. It is important to stress that he has not suggested that those about whom he writes are anti-Semitic, though that straw-man argument is being invoked by some as a diversionary tactic. As befits a highly regarded and prolific scholar, he has written a well-documented and thought-provoking essay that deserves to be considered on its merits.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1170359796236&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608092252/http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1170359796236&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-date=June 8, 2009 |last=Harris |first=David A. |author-link=David Harris (advocate) |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |title=Why AJC published the Rosenfeld essay |access-date=September 18, 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Notable people==
===Presidents===
* [[Mayer Sulzberger]] (1906–1912), also co-founder
* [[Louis Marshall|Louis B. Marshall]] (1912–1929), also co-founder
* [[Cyrus Adler]] (1929–1940), also co-founder
* [[Sol M. Stroock]] (1941)
* [[Maurice Wertheim]] (1941–1943)
* [[Joseph M. Proskauer]] (1943–1949), also co-founder
* [[Jacob Blaustein]] (1949–1954)
* [[Irving M. Engel]] (1954–1959)
* [[Herbert B. Ehrmann]] (1959–1961)
* [[Frederick F. Greenman]] (1961)
* [[Louis Caplan (lawyer)|Louis Caplan]] (1961–1962)
* [[A. M. Sonnabend]] (1962–1964)
* [[Morris B. Abram]] (1964–1968)
* [[Arthur Goldberg|Arthur J. Goldberg]] (1968–1969)
* [[Philip E. Hoffman]] (1969–1973)
* [[Elmer Winter|Elmer L. Winter]] (1973–1977)
* [[Richard Maass]] (1977–1980)
* [[Maynard Wishner|Maynard I. Wishner]] (1980–1983)
* [[Howard I. Friedman]] (1983–1986)
* [[Theodore Ellenoff]] (1986–1989)
* [[Sholom D. Comay]] (1986–1991)
* [[Alfred H. Moses]] (1991–1994)
* [[Robert S. Rifkind]] (1995–1998)
* [[Bruce M. Ramer]] (1998–2001)
* [[Harold Tanner]] (2001–2004)
* [[E. Robert Goodkind]] (2004–2007)<ref>{{cite book|last=Sanua|first=Marianne R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5p_MhA5shT4C&pg=PA399|title=Let Us Prove Strong: The American Jewish Committee, 1945-2006|year=2007|page=399|publisher=[[University Press of New England|Brandeis University Press]]|isbn=978-1-58465-631-9}}</ref>
* [[Richard Sideman]] (2007–2010)
* [[Robert Elman]] (2010–2013)
* [[Stanley M. Bergman]] (2013–2016)
* [[John Shapiro]] (2016–2019)
* [[Harriet Schleifer]] (2019–2022)
* [[Michael L. Tichnor]] (2022–)

===Other key people===
*Steven Bayme, former director of Jewish Communal Affairs
*[[Elliot E. Cohen]], former editor-in-chief of ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]''
*Ralph Friedman (1903/4–1992), former chairman<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pace |first1=Eric |title=Ralph Friedman, Ex-Board Chief For Jewish Committee, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/22/nyregion/ralph-friedman-ex-board-chief-for-jewish-committee-dies-at-88.html |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526060016/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/22/nyregion/ralph-friedman-ex-board-chief-for-jewish-committee-dies-at-88.html |archive-date=26 May 2015 |access-date=14 June 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=22 July 1992}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*[[Felice D. Gaer]], Director of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights
*[[Laurie Ann Goldman]], former board member
*[[Jerry Goodman (activist)|Jerry Goodman]], former director for European affairs
*[[David Harris (advocate)|David Harris]], executive director (1990–2022)
*[[Monika Krajewska]], recipient of AJC Lifetime Achievement Award
*[[Avital Leibovich]], Director of AJC in Israel
*[[Ted Deutch]], former member of [[U.S. House of Representatives]] and current CEO of AJC
*[[Samuel D. Leidesdorf]], former board member and AJC Herbert H. Lehman Human Relations Award recipient
*[[John T. Pawlikowski]], AJC Chicago Distinguished Service Award recipient
*[[Norman Podhoretz]], former editor-in-chief of ''Commentary''
*[[A. James Rudin]], former director of Interreligious Affairs
*[[Dov Zakheim]], former chair of Jewish Religious Equality Coalition (JREC)
*[[Jacob H. Schiff]], co-founder
*[[Marc H. Tanenbaum]], Director of Interreligious Affairs and later Director of International Affairs
*[[Max Horkheimer]], German sociologist and director of the [[University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research|Institute for Social Research]], assumed the directorship of the Scientific Division of the AJC in 1944.<ref>{{Cite web |title=⁨The Indiana Jewish Post and Opinion⁩ {{!}} Page 15 {{!}} 15 September 1944 {{!}} Newspapers {{!}} The National Library of Israel |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/indianajpost/1944/09/15/01/page/15 |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Judaism}}
*[[American Jews]]
*[[American Jewish Congress]]
*[[American Jewish anti-Bolshevism during the Russian Revolution]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*Barnett, Michael N. 2016. ''[https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691165974/the-star-and-the-stripes The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of American Jews]''. Princeton University Press.
*Cohen, Naomi Wiener. "The Transatlantic Connection: The American Jewish Committee and the Joint Foreign Committee in Defense of German Jews, 1933-1937," ''American Jewish History'' V. 90, #4, December 2002, pp.&nbsp;353–384 in [[Project MUSE]].
*Cohen, Naomi Wiener. ''Not Free to Desist: The American Jewish Committee, 1906-1966'' (1972), a standard history
*Grossman, Lawrence. "Transformation Through Crisis: The American Jewish Committee and the Six-Day War," ''American Jewish History'', Volume 86, Number 1, March 1998, pp.&nbsp;27–54.
*Handlin, Oscar. "The American Jewish Committee: A Half-Century View," ''Commentary'' (Jan. 1957), pp.&nbsp;1–10, [https://archive.today/20130102064055/http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-american-jewish-committee-br---em-a-half-century-view-em--2518 online].
* Levy, Richard S., ed. ''Antisemitism: A historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution'' (Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO, 2005) pp 16–17.
*Loeffler, James, "The Particularist Pursuit of American Universalism: The American Jewish Committee's 1944 'Declaration on Human Rights,'" ''Journal of Contemporary History'' (April 2015) 50, pp.&nbsp;274–95.
*Sanua, Marianne R. ''Let Us Prove Strong: The American Jewish Committee, 1945-2006'' (2007) – the standard scholarly history.
*Solomon, Abba A. ''The Speech, and Its Context: Jacob Blaustein's Speech "The Meaning of Palestine Partition to American Jews" Given to the Baltimore Chapter, American Jewish Committee, February 15, 1948'' (2011) – includes full text of speech, and some history of AJC perspective on Palestine and Israel.
*Svonkin, Stuart. ''Jews Against Prejudice: American Jews and the Fight for Civil Liberties'' (1997) – covers AJC and other groups including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Congress.

==External links==
*{{Official website}}
*{{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|135563393}}
*[http://ajcarchives.org American Jewish Committee Archives]
*[http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/results.cfm?Publisher=American%20Jewish%20Committee%20%28AJC%29 American Jewish Committee publications] (full text) on the [http://bjpa.org Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111001085502/http://www.atlantic-community.org/index/articles/view/Hate_Crime_Laws_vs._Fundamental_Freedoms Hate Crime Laws vs. Fundamental Freedoms] at [[Atlantic Community]] think tank
*[https://transatlanticinstitute.org/ AJC Transatlantic Institute]
*[https://transatlanticinstitute.org/transatlantic-friends-israel Transatlantic Friends of Israel Inter-parliamentary Group]

{{American Jewish Committee}}
{{Organized Jewish Life in the United States|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Antisemitism topics|state=uncollapsed}}

[[Category:American Jewish Committee| ]]
[[Category:Anti-communist organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Israel–United States relations]]
[[Category:United States political action committees]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1906]]
[[Category:The Holocaust and the United States]]
[[Category:1906 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Jewish anti-communism]]
[[Category:Jewish political organizations]]
[[Category:Jewish lobbying]]
[[Category:Zionist organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Civil rights organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:Human rights organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Antisemitism studies]]