William C. Daroff, CEO, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations was interviewed at the Arutz Sheva Jerusalem Conference in New York on May 22.
Asked about the state of combating the BDS movement, Daroff said that he sees as a “key indicator that BDS is no longer as much a flavor of the day as it had been in the past” the widespread adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.
“The IHRA definition of antisemitism shows that clearly pushing for double standards and treating Israel like no other country is an indicator of antisemitism, of looking at Jews and saying ‘You of all people do not have the right to determine yourself, to govern yourself, to have self-government.’ I think this is a real sea change where folks are seeing that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.”
Is he concerned about what’s going on on college campuses with anti-Zionism gaining traction?
“I think college campuses have always been the last bastion of these failed causes. It is concerning, however if you look at all of the student government motions that have passed, many have failed and there’s not one university administration that has actually adopted a BDS platform that’s been passed by their student government. Once the grown-ups get involved, we end up being in a good place. We need to stay focused on it but it’s really not the story, it’s the counter-story.”
Speaking about the relationship between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Joe Biden, Daroff described that they are “getting along very well,” explaining that Bennett’s government is doing an excellent job at bringing up disagreements with the White House behind the scenes, particularly on Judea and Samaria, in order to keep the relationship strong.
“The United States government is very focused on the idea of trying to allow for the Israeli government coalition to be able to survive without having undue pressure from America,” he said.
He continued, speaking about Iran: “The Biden administration is now pursuing some sort of new deal with Iran, apparently in the course of talks occurring in Vienna. We’re deeply concerned.”
He noted that Iran’s sticking point – removing the Revolutionary Guards from the terror list – is a “bridge too far for a vast majority of the United States Senate.”
But he said his organization is still very concerned a deal might happen.
“The deal that President Biden promised, which was one that was stronger and longer and broader, does not appear based on the leaks that we’ve seen from Vienna to be the case. At the moment, we need to stay vigilant. We need to stay focused on it. But it seems to be that a deal is not going to be forthcoming in the immediate future, thank goodness.”