The American Jewish Committee

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is one of the oldest and most influential Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in New York in 1906, it has worked to protect Jewish rights worldwide, combat antisemitism, strengthen relations among communities and governments, and deepen the relationship between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. Its distinctive contribution lies in combining public advocacy with government relations, interfaith engagement, and international diplomacy.

Founded in Response to Persecution

The AJC was established in February 1906 by 35 members of the German-Jewish American elite. Its creation followed the pogroms in Kishinev and growing concern over the persecution and insecurity of Jews in Romania and Russia. The founders sought an organization capable of defending Jewish civil and religious rights abroad, protecting Jewish economic and cultural life, and organizing assistance when communities faced danger.

The AJC was the first ethnic and religious organization in the United States founded specifically to defend the rights of members of a religious and national group beyond the country’s borders. In its early decades it was not a mass organization. Its influence came from the standing, connections, and resources of carefully selected members who sought to affect public policy through focused and disciplined advocacy.

Advocacy and the Defense of Jewish Rights

Among its early leaders were Oscar Straus, a United States secretary of commerce and labor and a friend of the Zionist movement; Judge Mayer Sulzberger, the committee’s first president; Louis Marshall, who succeeded him in 1912; and banker and philanthropist Jacob Schiff. The organization’s leadership combined deep integration into American society with a commitment to defending Jews in other countries.

One of the AJC’s first major successes came through a vigorous public campaign led by Louis Marshall and Jacob Schiff against Russia’s treatment of its Jewish population. The campaign contributed to the abrogation of a treaty between the United States and Russia. It demonstrated the organization’s characteristic method: using law, public opinion, and access to government to turn the persecution of Jews into a matter of international policy with tangible consequences.

During its early years, the AJC promoted the Americanization of Jews in the United States, opposed Jewish nationalism on American soil, and maintained a cautious attitude toward Zionism. It was willing to assist Jews in Palestine as individuals but did not initially support a political program on their behalf. At the same time, it expressed support for the Balfour Declaration. Between the world wars, the organization became more diverse and gradually moved from an anti-Zionist position toward a non-Zionist one, while continuing to engage with the major issues affecting Jewish life.

From European Crisis to a New Relationship with Israel

Louis Marshall, regarded as a leading figure in American Jewish life, headed the AJC until his death in 1929. Felix Warburg served as president until 1937, and Joseph M. Proskauer led the organization during the 1940s. During that period, the AJC initially moved closer to a pro-Zionist position. The Holocaust and the Second World War then transformed its outlook: Palestine came to be understood as the central refuge for Jewish survivors, and the committee eventually supported the partition plan, even after the United States withdrew its support for the resolution.

In 1950, AJC president Jacob Blaustein led the negotiation and signing of an understanding with Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. The agreement affirmed that Israel would stand alongside the Jewish communities of the Diaspora, but would not treat them as communities whose sole purpose was immigration to Israel or pressure them to leave the United States. Ben-Gurion signed the document, presented it publicly, and gave it official political weight.

The Blaustein–Ben-Gurion understandings became a landmark in the relationship between Israel and American Jewry. They recognized that Israel and Diaspora communities share a common fate and responsibility while possessing distinct identities, needs, and centers of life. In doing so, the AJC helped shape a new language for Israel–Diaspora relations: one based on partnership rather than subordination or a demand for exclusive allegiance.

Diplomacy, Education, and International Engagement

The AJC has maintained its independence while working with governments and communities in many countries. Its activities include government relations, public diplomacy, combating antisemitism, promoting human rights, and encouraging interfaith and international dialogue. The organization therefore does more than respond to antisemitic incidents; it seeks to build relationships that can reduce isolation, ignorance, and hostility toward Jews and Israel.

Since 1982, the AJC has operated Project Interchange, an educational seminar program that brings leaders from around the world to Israel. According to the supplied archive material, the program has brought more than 6,000 diplomats, journalists, and opinion leaders from 90 countries to Israel. Participants encounter Israeli society, institutions, and regional realities directly, enabling them to present a more informed picture of Israel and Jewish life in their own countries. The program illustrates how education and personal contact can function as instruments of both diplomacy and community building.

Building Bridges after the Holocaust

The AJC was the first Jewish organization to renew relations with Germany after the Holocaust. This decision did not erase Nazi crimes or abandon the memory of the victims. It represented an attempt to confront the new political reality in Europe and to build mechanisms that could help prevent a repetition of catastrophe. Soon after German reunification, the organization opened an office in Berlin.

In May 2006, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was invited to speak at the AJC’s centennial conference. She was the first German chancellor to address the organization’s annual meeting. The occasion reflected the historic distance traveled in Jewish-German relations and the AJC’s role in creating official and civic channels of dialogue after the Holocaust.

Continuing Work in Israel and Jewish Communities

The AJC established a Jerusalem office in 1962, creating a base for its work in Israel and for its relations with Israeli institutions and civil society. Its continuing agenda includes Israel–Diaspora relations, the security and well-being of Jewish communities, and the fight against antisemitism. In June 2018, the organization published a collection of essays by 25 Israeli and American thinkers and commentators on relations between American Jewry and Israel. Among the proposals was a call for greater investment in Jewish and Zionist education, Jewish schools, and community-based educational frameworks.

The organization includes tens of thousands of members, primarily from the American Jewish community. Its social composition has broadened over time, but its central conviction has remained consistent: protecting Jewish communities requires both strong communal action and sustained engagement with governments, public institutions, and other communities.

Why this legacy belongs in Moreshet

The American Jewish Committee merits inclusion in Moreshet because it represents more than a century of organized Jewish action that has shaped Jewish life, Israel–Diaspora relations, and international discussion of human rights and antisemitism. It defended Jews facing persecution in Europe, influenced American policy, adapted to the realities created by the Holocaust, and helped establish the understandings that redefined the relationship between Israel and American Jewry.

Moreshet preserves the AJC’s story because it shows how a community institution can become a bridge linking American Jewry, the State of Israel, and the wider world. Through Project Interchange, the renewal of relations with Germany, its Jerusalem office, and its continuing diplomatic work, the organization has affected people and institutions far beyond its membership. Moreshet.com presents that history as part of the broader story of Jewish organizations that have defended communities, strengthened identity and partnership, and translated Jewish values into public action.