The Conference of Presidents

THE ENTITIES · OLAM.BUSINESS

Edited on Aug 16, 2026.

Fifty-three national Jewish organizations. One consensus voice to the Executive Branch. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is the coordinating body that translates the institutional breadth of American Jewry — Orthodox to Reform, left to right, defense to philanthropy — into a single channel of engagement with the White House, the State Department, foreign governments, and the Israeli prime minister's office. It is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, headquartered at 633 Third Avenue in New York. Its chair since June 2025 is Betsy Berns Korn, former national president and board chair of AIPAC. Its CEO since February 2020 is William Daroff, who succeeded Malcolm Hoenlein after Hoenlein's 33-year tenure as the organization's chief professional officer.

The Conference is not AIPAC. It does not lobby Congress. It is not the Jewish Federations of North America. It does not run communal services. It is not the ADL. It does not litigate. The Conference of Presidents is the table — the place where the heads of all of those organizations sit together, negotiate a consensus position, and carry it to the executive branch of the United States government. Since the 1970s, the Conference chair has been the de facto spokesperson for the American Jewish community on international affairs.

Conference of Presidents: Snapshot

Founded	1955 (formally established 1959 with 15 founding members)
Co-founders	Nahum Goldmann (World Jewish Congress) and Philip Klutznick (B'nai B'rith International)
Legal status	501(c)(4) (EIN 13-2500881) + 501(c)(3) Fund (EIN 13-3116652)
Headquarters	633 Third Avenue, New York, NY
Chair	Betsy Berns Korn (since June 2025; re-elected June 2026; former AIPAC national president and board chair)
Chair-elect	Matthew Bronfman (elected May 2026; chair of Board of Governors, Hillel International)
CEO	William Daroff (since February 2020; succeeded Malcolm Hoenlein after 33-year tenure)
Vice Chair	Malcolm Hoenlein (former executive vice chairman, 1986–2020)
Member organizations	53 national Jewish organizations (most recent: Israeli-American Council, admitted early 2025)
501(c)(4) revenue	~$539,000
501(c)(3) Fund revenue	~$1.65 million (operating budget ~$2.1M)
Combined budget	~$2.6 million
Fund total assets	~$3.35 million
Function	Coordinating consensus voice to the U.S. Executive Branch, Israeli government, EU, UN, and foreign governments
Annual Israel mission	51st National Leadership Mission (2025) — ~50-person delegation meeting PM, president, defense minister

The founding: Goldmann, Klutznick, and the Eisenhower crisis

The Conference of Presidents was born from a specific geopolitical crisis. In the early 1950s, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was pursuing a Middle East policy that Israeli and American Jewish leaders viewed as hostile to Israel's security interests. Assistant Secretary of State Henry Byroade publicly pressured Israel on border and refugee issues. Multiple American Jewish organizations were approaching the State Department separately, with separate messages, producing institutional noise rather than institutional weight.

Nahum Goldmann — president of the World Jewish Congress, later president of the World Zionist Organization — is credited as the co-founder alongside Philip Klutznick, then president of B'nai B'rith International. Klutznick later wrote that he proposed the concept to Goldmann the day after his own election as B'nai B'rith president in May 1953, and that Goldmann "bought it and ran with the ball." Israeli diplomat Abba Eban also played a role, having urged a small group of American Jewish leaders to begin meeting with Israeli officials for briefings and consultations as early as 1951.

In 1955, Klutznick invited the leaders of 16 American Jewish organizations to convene in New York. By March 1955, the group had expanded to 20 members and met in Washington to discuss the Middle East — the first public forum that enabled the U.S. government to hear the opinions of the largest representative body of American Jews since World War II. The Conference declared three goals: the defense of America and the welfare of its people; the spread of freedom and attainment of peace worldwide; and the attainment of peace, development, and security for the people of Israel. The organization was formally established in 1959 with 15 founding members — eight Zionist groups plus defense, religious, and fundraising agencies.

Goldmann served as the first chairman from May 1955 to May 1959. Klutznick succeeded him from May 1959 to May 1960. Yehuda Hellman served as the first career professional executive from 1959 to 1986, establishing the staff infrastructure that Hoenlein would later expand into one of the most influential positions in American Jewish life.

Where does the Conference sit in the American Jewish architecture?

The American Jewish institutional ecosystem operates through parallel architectures that serve different functions. AIPAC lobbies Congress on Israel-related legislation and appropriations. The Jewish Federations of North America coordinate communal fundraising and social services across 146 local federations. The Anti-Defamation League monitors and litigates antisemitism and civil rights. The American Jewish Committee conducts diplomatic engagement and research. Hillel International operates on 850 college campuses.

The Conference of Presidents occupies a structurally distinct position: it is the coordinating body, not a direct-action organization. Its membership is organizational, not individual. It does not raise money from the public. It does not run programs. It produces consensus positions and delivers them to the executive branch — the president, the secretary of state, the national security advisor — and to foreign heads of state. The Conference's interlocutor is the White House. AIPAC's interlocutor is Capitol Hill. The distinction is institutional, not rhetorical.

The Conference also maintains documented institutional relationships with the Israeli government — regular leadership missions to Jerusalem that include meetings with the prime minister, president, defense minister, and opposition leaders — and with the European Union, the United Nations, and foreign governments where American Jewish institutional engagement is structurally relevant.

Who are the 53 member organizations?

The Conference's membership spans the full denominational and political range of organized American Jewry. The 53 member organizations include AIPAC, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith International, Hadassah, the Jewish Federations of North America, Hillel International, the Orthodox Union, the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Rabbinical Council of America, Americans for Peace Now, the Zionist Organization of America, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), HIAS, the JCC Association of North America, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the American Sephardi Federation, and the Jewish National Fund.

The most recent member admitted is the Israeli-American Council (IAC), which joined in early 2025 following a unanimous vote by the membership committee and the full Conference. The IAC admission was notable: it brought the organized Israeli-American diaspora community formally under the Conference umbrella for the first time.

Membership is not automatic. Organizations apply and are reviewed by the membership committee before a full Conference vote. Rejections have occurred — Meretz U.S.A. was notably denied admission. For many years, the American Jewish Committee itself held only observer status, viewing itself as a non-Zionist organization whose priorities were domestic. The AJC joined the Conference in 1991 when international affairs assumed primacy on its agenda.

How is the Conference governed? Chair, CEO, and the Hoenlein legacy

The Conference operates under a dual leadership structure: a volunteer chair elected by the member organizations for one-year terms (renewable once), and a professional CEO who runs the day-to-day operations and serves as the organization's primary institutional voice.

The chair position rotates among leaders drawn from the major member organizations. Betsy Berns Korn assumed the chair on June 1, 2025, succeeding Harriet P. Schleifer, who served two terms. Korn was re-elected to a second one-year term beginning June 1, 2026. Her background is AIPAC: she served as national president from 2020 to 2023 and as board chair from 2023 to 2025. She sits on the American Jewish Committee's Board of Governors and the Israel Economic Forum. Since October 7, she has traveled to Israel twelve times — including four trips with the Conference of Presidents.

Matthew Bronfman — chair of the Board of Governors of Hillel International, former chair of the Board of Trustees and twelve-year executive committee member of the American Jewish Committee, and honorary chair of NYU Hillel — was elected chair-elect in May 2026.

The CEO position defines the Conference's institutional weight. Malcolm Hoenlein was elected executive vice chairman in June 1986 and held the role for 33 years — a tenure that made him one of the most influential figures in modern American Jewish institutional life. He had previously founded the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York and the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. Abraham Foxman of the ADL described the Conference chairmanship as the position "lovingly called 'the King of the Jews.'" Hoenlein's longevity and access — he met with every Israeli prime minister from Yitzhak Shamir to Benjamin Netanyahu, every U.S. president from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump, and the Pope — gave the professional staff role a gravitational pull that often exceeded the volunteer chair's.

William Daroff succeeded Hoenlein on February 1, 2020 — weeks before COVID shut down institutional life. Daroff came from the Jewish Federations of North America, where he served as senior vice president for public policy and director of the Washington office. His appointment reflected a generational transition: Hoenlein remained as vice chair and continues to be involved in the organization, receiving Israel's Presidential Medal of Honor from President Isaac Herzog for his decades of service.

What is the Conference's financial structure?

The Conference operates through two legal entities. The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations (EIN 13-2500881) is the 501(c)(4) advocacy body. Per its most recent filing, it reported revenue of approximately $539,000, expenses of $527,000, and total assets of $227,000. Donations to a 501(c)(4) are not tax-deductible.

The Conference of Presidents Major American Jewish Organizations Fund (EIN 13-3116652) is the 501(c)(3) companion entity, structured for educational programming — dialogues that promote world peace, democratic values, human rights, and the elimination of antisemitism and religious bigotry. The Fund reported revenue of approximately $1.65 million, an operating budget of $2.1 million, and total assets of $3.35 million. It receives grants from the Jewish Communal Fund, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, and National Philanthropic Trust, among others.

The combined budget — roughly $2.6 million across both entities — is modest relative to the Conference's institutional influence. AIPAC's annual budget exceeds $156 million. The ADL operates at over $150 million. The Jewish Federations system moves billions. The Conference of Presidents runs the coordinating table on a budget smaller than most of its individual member organizations. The staff is small. The membership base is organizational. This creates structural leverage for a capable professional leader — which is why the Hoenlein era produced such outsized institutional impact from a comparatively small operation.

What does the Conference actually do?

The Conference's operations fall into three categories. First, institutional convening: the Conference coordinates regular consultations among member organizations on U.S. foreign policy developments affecting Israel and Jewish concerns globally. These include internal deliberations where 53 organizations — from Americans for Peace Now to the Zionist Organization of America — negotiate shared positions. The consensus mechanism is the Conference's core product: positions are issued as reflecting "the consensus views of its leadership" unless otherwise indicated, and do not necessarily represent the views of each individual member organization.

Second, government and diplomatic engagement: the Conference maintains institutional relationships with the U.S. executive branch, the Israeli government, the European Union, the United Nations, and foreign governments. The annual National Leadership Mission to Israel — typically a 50-person delegation of top leaders from member organizations and the National Leadership Council — includes meetings with the Israeli prime minister, president, defense minister, and opposition leaders. The Conference's 51st Annual Leadership Mission took place in 2025.

Third, public positioning: the Conference issues coordinated public statements on matters where institutional consensus is achievable. These statements carry weight because they implicitly represent the combined institutional credibility of AIPAC, the ADL, the AJC, B'nai B'rith, the ZOA, JINSA, and dozens of other organizations speaking through a single channel.

From Soviet Jewry to the Iran nuclear file

The Conference's institutional relevance has tracked the major inflection points of American Jewish political life. Under Hoenlein's tenure, the Conference played documented roles across the Soviet Jewry movement, the First and Second Intifadas, the debate over the Oslo Accords, the 2003 Iraq War, the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA), and the Abraham Accords.

The Iran nuclear file has been a defining institutional test. The Conference navigated the Obama-era JCPOA debate — where mainstream Jewish organizations were deeply divided — through Trump's 2018 withdrawal, Biden-era revival attempts in 2021-2022, the collapse of the accord in 2025, and the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites in 2026. In June 2025, the Conference issued a statement supporting Israel's preemptive defensive action against Iranian nuclear facilities, affirming Israel's "sovereign right to defend itself against existential threats." In June 2026, the Conference addressed the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding framework, pressing Washington with five questions about verification mechanisms, sanctions relief conditions, and the durability of any final agreement.

What changed after October 7?

October 7, 2023 produced the most significant expansion of the Conference's operational scope since its founding. The attack — 1,200 killed, over 250 taken hostage — triggered an institutional mobilization across the American Jewish community that the Conference was structurally positioned to coordinate.

The post-October 7 environment expanded the Conference's work across multiple dimensions: accelerated coordination among member organizations on community security, Israel advocacy, and the institutional response to elevated global antisemitism; intensified engagement with the U.S. government on security funding for Jewish institutions; expanded diplomatic engagement with European institutions and global Jewish community-security infrastructure; and the issuance of a volume of public statements — on the hostages, on campus antisemitism, on the wars with Iran and its proxies — that materially exceeded pre-October 7 norms.

Chair Betsy Berns Korn described the period as "the most challenging times for the Jewish community in decades." CEO William Daroff issued statements on matters ranging from the repeal of antisemitism executive orders by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in January 2026 to broader community security — reflecting the Conference's role as the institutional voice that responds on behalf of organized American Jewry to events across the global Jewish security landscape.

What are the internal tensions?

The Conference's membership architecture creates a permanent internal tension. Americans for Peace Now and the Zionist Organization of America do not share policy positions. The Reform movement and the Orthodox Union do not share denominational theology. HIAS's immigration advocacy and JINSA's national-security orientation pull in structurally different directions.

This tension has produced documented internal conflicts. The Zionist Organization of America has filed formal grievances against fellow member organizations. Thomas Friedman of the New York Times characterized the Conference as "Likud-run" — a characterization that reflects perceptions of a rightward tilt on Israel-related positions, though the membership itself spans left to right.

The consensus mechanism is both the Conference's institutional product and its structural vulnerability. When consensus is achievable — as on Iran, on hostage recovery, on antisemitism — the Conference speaks with the weight of 53 organizations. When consensus is not achievable — as on the specifics of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, on settlement policy, on the judicial reform crisis of 2023 — the Conference either issues no statement or issues a statement so carefully hedged that it satisfies no one.

Why the Conference matters now

The Conference of Presidents in mid-2026 is an institution operating at the highest sustained operational tempo in its seven-decade history. The combination of the post-October 7 security environment, the Iran nuclear confrontation, rising campus and street-level antisemitism, and the generational leadership transition from Hoenlein to Daroff has stretched an institution designed for periodic consensus-building into one that functions as a permanent coordinating war room.

The next institutional questions are structural. First, whether the expanded post-October 7 operational scope sustains through 2026 and beyond, or whether the institutional urgency recedes as the crisis environment normalizes. Second, whether the Conference's governance architecture — one-year chair terms, modest budget, small staff — can support the current operational demands without structural reform. Third, how the Conference positions across the generational transition in member-organization leadership, as the leaders who built their careers in the Soviet Jewry and Oslo eras give way to leaders formed by October 7 and the Iran confrontation. Fourth, whether the chair-elect succession of Matthew Bronfman — whose institutional base is Hillel International, not AIPAC — signals a broadening of the Conference's center of gravity from defense and advocacy toward campus and communal life.

The Conference of Presidents has functioned for 70 years because the American Jewish community needs a coordinating table. The organizations that sit at the table change. The issues that require consensus change. The governments that receive the consensus positions change. The table itself — the structural need for 53 organizations to produce one voice to one government — has not changed since Goldmann and Klutznick convened 16 leaders in a New York meeting room in 1955.

Conference of Presidents: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations?
The Conference of Presidents is the umbrella coordinating body for 53 national American Jewish organizations. Founded in 1955, it produces consensus positions on international affairs and delivers them to the U.S. executive branch, the Israeli government, the European Union, the United Nations, and foreign governments. It is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit headquartered at 633 Third Avenue in New York.

Who runs the Conference of Presidents?
Chair: Betsy Berns Korn (since June 2025; re-elected June 2026), former AIPAC national president and board chair. Chair-elect: Matthew Bronfman (elected May 2026), chair of the Board of Governors of Hillel International. CEO: William Daroff (since February 2020), who succeeded Malcolm Hoenlein after Hoenlein's 33-year tenure.

What is the Conference's annual budget?
The combined budget across both legal entities is approximately $2.6 million. The 501(c)(4) body (EIN 13-2500881) reported revenue of ~$539,000. The 501(c)(3) Fund (EIN 13-3116652) reported revenue of ~$1.65 million with an operating budget of ~$2.1 million and total assets of ~$3.35 million. The budget is modest relative to its influence — AIPAC operates at $156 million, the ADL at $150 million+.

How is the Conference different from AIPAC?
AIPAC lobbies Congress and funds campaigns. The Conference coordinates consensus among 53 organizations and delivers positions to the executive branch — the White House, the State Department, the NSC. AIPAC's interlocutor is Capitol Hill. The Conference's interlocutor is the White House. The Conference does not lobby Congress and does not fund campaigns.

Who founded the Conference of Presidents?
Nahum Goldmann (president of the World Jewish Congress) and Philip Klutznick (president of B'nai B'rith International) co-founded the Conference in 1955. The immediate trigger was the Eisenhower administration's Middle East policy under Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, which multiple Jewish organizations were addressing separately and ineffectively. Goldmann served as first chairman (1955–1959).

Which organizations are members?
53 national Jewish organizations spanning the full denominational and political spectrum: AIPAC, AJC, ADL, B'nai B'rith, Hadassah, JFNA, Hillel International, the Orthodox Union, the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Americans for Peace Now, the Zionist Organization of America, JINSA, HIAS, FIDF, JNF, and others. The most recent admission was the Israeli-American Council (IAC) in early 2025.

Who was Malcolm Hoenlein?
Malcolm Hoenlein served as executive vice chairman from June 1986 to February 2020 — 33 years. He met every Israeli prime minister from Yitzhak Shamir to Benjamin Netanyahu, every U.S. president from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump, and the Pope. Abraham Foxman described the role as "the position lovingly called 'the King of the Jews.'" Hoenlein remains as vice chair and received Israel's Presidential Medal of Honor.

Who is William Daroff?
William Daroff (born 1968, Miami Beach) has served as CEO since February 1, 2020. He came from the Jewish Federations of North America, where he was senior vice president for public policy and director of the Washington office. Named by The Jerusalem Post among the 50 most influential Jews worldwide and by The Forward as one of the 50 most influential Jews in America.

Does the Conference take positions on Israeli-Palestinian peace?
Only when consensus among all 53 members is achievable. On existential questions — Iran, hostage recovery, antisemitism — the Conference speaks with unified weight. On contested questions — settlement policy, judicial reform, peace negotiation specifics — it either issues no statement or one so carefully hedged that it satisfies no constituency. The ability to produce consensus on existential questions while managing disagreement on particular questions is the institutional skill that defines effective Conference leadership.

What is the Conference's role after October 7?
October 7, 2023 produced the most significant expansion of the Conference's operational scope since its founding. It now functions as a permanent coordinating body for community security, Israel advocacy, campus antisemitism response, hostage recovery advocacy, and diplomatic engagement with European and global institutions — operating at a sustained tempo that materially exceeds pre-October 7 norms.

Primary Sources

Conference of Presidents published charter, governance disclosures, institutional history, and press statements. Form 990 filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: EIN 13-2500881 and EIN 13-3116652. Conference of Presidents website at conferenceofpresidents.org. Coverage in JTA, The Forward, Jewish Insider, Jewish News Syndicate, Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post. Jewish Virtual Library. InfluenceWatch. Wikipedia. Related coverage: AIPAC: The $156M Lobby That Became America's Largest PAC; Conference of Presidents Political Audit; Hillel's $73 Million Machine. Data current as of August 2026.

Olam coverage

See the Olam entity profiles of AIPAC: The $156M Lobby That Became America's Largest PAC and the Conference of Presidents Political Audit: 62% of Major American Jewish Organizations Oppose Trump and Netanyahu, and Hillel's $73 Million Machine.

בעברית

ועידת הנשיאים של הארגונים היהודיים הגדולים באמריקה היא הגוף המתאם של 53 ארגונים יהודיים לאומיים בארצות הברית. נוסדה ב-1955 על ידי נחום גולדמן ופיליפ קלוצ'ניק. ארגון 501(c)(4), מטה: 633 שדרה שלישית, ניו יורק. יו"ר: בטסי ברנס קורן (מיוני 2025). מנכ"ל: וויליאם דארוף (מפברואר 2020), יורשו של מלקולם הולנין לאחר 33 שנות כהונה. תקציב משולב: כ-2.6 מיליון דולר. הוועידה מייצרת עמדות קונצנזוס ומעבירה אותן לרשות המבצעת של ארצות הברית, לממשלת ישראל, לאיחוד האירופי, ולאו"ם. לאחר ה-7 באוקטובר 2023, הוועידה פועלת בקצב התפעולי הגבוה ביותר בהיסטוריה של שבעה עשורים. יו"ר נבחר: מת'יו ברונפמן (נבחר מאי 2026), יו"ר מועצת המנהלים של הלל בינלאומי.

The Olam Editorial Team | The Entities