That assumption did not hold after October 7, however, Daroff said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unions that we had stood with abandoned us,\u201d he said bluntly. \u201cNow, in an environment where organizations have limited resources, I think there needs to be a reassessment of how we prioritize engaging with allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
This does not mean turning inward and ignoring broader social issues, Daroff stressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFighting for minimum wage, for instance, in and of itself, might be a good thing\u201d from a Jewish values perspective, he said. However, he said, the notion that such advocacy would \u201cpay dividends\u201d for the Jewish community in the form of support on issues of Israel or antisemitism has been \u201cblown away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2022-11-14-at-21.47.07-1024x640.jpeg\")
\n\t\tFrom left, pollster Fern Oppenheim, INSS researcher Eldad Shavit, Conference of Presidents CEO William Daroff and journalist Nurit Canetti appear on stage at a conference on the Israel-US relationship in Tel Aviv on November 14, 2022. (Eran Alergant\/Reut Group)<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Daroff said, the last two years have shown that organizations should pour more resources into \u201cdoubling down\u201d on Jewish education to strengthen people\u2019s identity and resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to ensure that these kids have the self-confidence to talk about Judaism, about Israel, so when they hit the campus as freshmen, they\u2019re not hit with challenges for the first time and have no way to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
A return to unity<\/p>\n
Looking at the current landscape,\u00a0Daroff, whose umbrella organization represents 50 mainstream Jewish organizations from across the political spectrum, said he sees a new level of unity and willingness to cooperate following the events of the past two years.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-05-at-9.14.25-PM-1024x640.jpeg\")
\n\t\tCEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations William Daroff, President Isaac Herzog, and COP Chair Betsy Berns Korn at the President\u2019s Residence, February 2025 (Amit Elkayam)<\/p>\n
After Israel\u2019s judicial reform debate split society in the year before the October 7 attack, \u201corganizations have learned to bite their lips on the 10% they disagree on for the sake of Shlom Bayit [cohesion] and to cooperate on the 90% that they do agree on,\u201d Daroff said. \u201cOctober 7 forced us to focus on who our real enemies are and what our real priorities are, and there is so much work to be done that we can do better together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mainstream Jewish leaders are nearly all in agreement on most of the core issues, such as the centrality of Israel in Jewish life, Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Jewish people, and a basic understanding of Israel\u2019s role and rights in a hostile region, Daroff said. While they may have squabbled over secondary matters before the war, unity now means working together on these issues and speaking with commonality of purpose and agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy big focus now for the American Jewish community is to try to continue this, and to impress upon our Israeli brothers and sisters to put unity at the top of their priorities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Daroff outlined his approach to \u201cleading from consensus\u201d as the head of the Conference of Presidents, whose members span the entire political spectrum.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy practice has been to focus on areas of agreement, and from there, tiptoe into areas of disagreement to see if there are ways to bring people together in a way that will make everybody happy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/JFNA_020-2-1024x640.jpg\")
\n\t\tIllustrative: A panel discussion at the JFNA General Assembly in Chicago on October 30, 2022. (Jewish Federations of North America)<\/p>\n
Antisemitism and engagement<\/p>\n
Looking at the state of antisemitism today, Daroff sees \u201cearly indications\u201d of a gradual cooling of the explosion in anti-Jewish hostility over the last two years. While it is too early to guess how things will progress over the coming months, there are signs of progress, especially on the fierce ideological battlefields of college campuses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings like anti-Israel encampments and Jewish students being harassed are not happening anymore,\u201d Daroff said. \u201cCampuses are much calmer now than they were previously.\u201d<\/p>\n
That marks a sharp contrast with the spring of 2024, when weeks-long encampments<\/a>, building occupations and class disruptions were common at major universities.<\/p>\n \t Much of that, he said, is because the Trump administration took strong steps to enforce<\/a> Title VI protections against discrimination, including threatening to withdraw federal funding, to force university administrators to clamp down on hate activities on campus.<\/p>\n \u201cThose interventions raised the stakes for institutions and literally changed the atmosphere for Jewish students and faculty overnight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20240505__34QV3PJ__v1__HighRes__UsPalestinianIsraelConflictProtest-e1744092348648-1024x640.jpg\")
\n\t\tTents and signs fill Harvard Yard by the John Harvard statue in the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel encampment at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 5, 2024. (Joseph Prezioso \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
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