Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Back to Opinion

The Conference’s Bad Call

More than half a century ago, the heads of a dozen national Jewish organizations formed a loose forum to approach the federal government as a unified American Jewish voice on Israel and the Middle East. The initiative initially came from the Eisenhower administration, which hoped — in vain, it turned out — to minimize the number of pro-Israel pleadings it had to hear from Jewish groups. The Israeli government supported the idea enthusiastically, seeing it as a way to amplify its clout in Washington by creating a united front of American citizens.

And so the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was born. Its three-part mission was to foster and articulate a consensus within the Jewish community, to faithfully reflect the needs of the Jewish state and to keep the lines to the White House open so the community could make its positions known.

These days, unfortunately, the conference, now up to 51 members, seems hard-pressed to do any of its three jobs well. It hasn’t had much luck of late forging consensus among its constituent organizations, particularly when it comes to Israel’s efforts to negotiate peace with its Palestinian neighbors. It usually seems to see itself as an advocate for Israel at the expense of representing its own constituents and their views. And yet, it too often fails to stand with Israel at all at crucial moments.

And now, in an alarming turn of events, the Presidents Conference seems intent on souring its relations with what could well be the next American administration. Not once but twice this fall, the conference gave the appearance of favoring the McCain campaign, effectively handing the Obama campaign a crude insult.

The first incident came in September, when the organization announced that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin would address a rally protesting Iran’s nuclear policies, even though the Democratic ticket was not represented in the line-up of speakers. In response, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton angrily canceled her own planned participation in the event. An outcry ensued, forcing the conference to withdraw Palin’s invitation. The result was hurt feelings all around, particularly among Democrats.

The rally imbroglio might be thought a slip-up, despite the conference’s longstanding reputation for political savvy. Perhaps someone thought Palin’s invitation was balanced politically by Clinton’s. That might even have been true if this weren’t a campaign year. Whatever the impetus, the conference compounded the slight just a month later by helping the McCain campaign to organize a conference call to Jewish community leaders. No such help had been given to — nor sought by — the Obama campaign. Absent an Obama call, any involvement in the McCain teleconference was a patently partisan act, and forbidden. Leaders of the Presidents Conference understand that perfectly well.

Perhaps the Jewish right’s fantasies of a secretly hostile Obama have penetrated so deep into the conference’s leadership that prudence and perspective have gone out the window. Over the years, indiscretions such as these have generated suspicion of the Presidents Conference among Democrats. These latest incidents will only compound it, making it harder for the conference to do its job in the days to come.

That’s not the worst of the damage, though. Other channels exist to present Israel’s case in Washington. No such replacement exists for the conference in its role as a voice of American Jewish consensus. Precious few venues are left where an increasingly fragmented Jewish community can sit around a common table. The Presidents Conference is dangerously close to losing that role, leaving a vacuum where there used to be a community.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.