With the mission gathering of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations taking place in Jerusalem next week, CEO William Daroff sat down with Israel National News to speak about his organization’s current direction.
“This would have been 47 straight years that we've been [in Jerusalem] but we missed one and we're excited to be back here in Israel,” Daroff says.
The significance of the conference is multifaceted.
“We are a gathering of the major leaders of Jewish organizations across the United States and we come and meet with every sector of Israeli civil society, your top government officials, members of the cabinet, members of the Knesset, top journalists, military leaders and others in order to exchange views and really reintroduce ourselves and they get reintroduced by the Israeli leadership who we have not seen in this sort of gathering for two years.”
The Conference focuses on areas where the various sectors of the Jewish community can come together.
“We really focus on areas of agreement where we as an American Jewish community can come together as one voice and move forward a common agenda and so by engaging with the Israeli government we're able to really get a front row seat to see the the interests that are at play and the issues that are coming forward.”
Noting that this will be the first time they’ve met as a group with the current Israeli government, he said: “To hear their perspective is something that we look forward to seeing front and center.”
Though there are many ideological disagreements within the Jewish community, in Israel and in the Diaspora, they “promote shalom bayit within the Conference of Presidents."
“We're one of the few bodies that the Conservative, Reform and Orthodox all join together and meet with around a common table. We have a doctrine where we don't engage in those issues but we do engage on the atmospherics around them to try to ensure that no matter… there is understanding about the need to have respect across the board to understand that we're all Jews just trying to make a better Jewish world. That respect and empathy is something that we try to encourage.”
How do they navigate between all of today’s contentious partisanship?
“We certainly try. It's very tough in the current environment to do that. Everything is incredibly divisive in America, in Israel and across the world this sort of partisan divisiveness that's taken hold,” Daroff says. “We we look for areas of commonality of agreement where we can bring people together, whether they're liberals and conservatives or Republicans and Democrats, in order to see that as far as we're concerned there is a focus on ensuring a a better Jewish future and that we can come together as a people.”
There was a feeling that the Trump-era was one of true friendship with Israel and a worry that we have now gone back to the days when there was tension between former Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Obama administration. Daroff says that is not the case.
While Darofff says that he meets former Obama administration personnel that feel that the attitude must be different "this time," he notes that relations with the Biden administration are positive.
“There really are not many tensions between Jerusalem and Washington, particularly when you compare it to previous administrations. You mentioned the Obama administration, but i was deeply involved in the George W. Bush administration and there were oftentimes every other day from the podium at the State Department there was criticism of this settlement action or this unhelpful comment from a member of the government. At the moment we're at a place where you can really count on two hands the number of times that there have been public statements that have been problematic from our government towards Israel.”
“I think we've had great relations with every government going back to 1959 when the organization was founded but as far as the governments are concerned absolutely during times during the Obama administration you could palpably feel the the heat and the tension between the Obama administration the Netanyahu administration.”
But today, the Israeli and US government have made a “concerted effort to ensure that that's not repeated” with any disagreements happening behind closed doors, he says.
He cites a “great level of communication” on key issues of interest to both nations.
On the subject of the American negotiations in Vienna with Iran about its nuclear program, he says that they have communicated their concerns about a potential agreement, “particularly that the the discussion seems to be very much just focused on the nuclear file not on ballistic missiles not on human rights, not on the malevolent activities of Iran around the region and around the world in Lebanon and Gaza and in Yemen and even in the Americas.”
He adds: “We are concerned about where this plays out but I am comfortable with knowing that our government knows very much what your government thinks about these issues and that those will be part of the mix.”
On the topic of the Abraham Accords, he notes that the Conference of Presidents has been involved in discussions with with Arab states and the Gulf states going back to the early ‘90s.
“A key game changer of the Abraham Accords is that it opens up the door to recognizes the relations between Israel and the Arab world do not have to be on a road that runs through Ramallah. The Arab world is far bigger than the PA.”
Explaining that he believes more countries will soon join the Accords this year, and that the Saudis will join eventually, he adds: “This outside in pressure of having normalization and legitimization conferred upon Israel by these states will send a clear message to the Arab world and to the Palestinians about how they really need to stop missing all these opportunities that they've missed.”