Schumer’s meeting with American Jewish leaders exposes rift between religious, political factions

NEW YORK—On Tuesday, after Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) met with members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations over Zoom, COP leadership said its organization’s members “remained distressed” over the Senate leader’s call for new elections in Israel.

The Jerusalem Post has consequently reached out to the COP leadership.

COP is made up of 50 organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, AIPAC, Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Hadassah, Hillel, Union for Reform Judaism, among others.  

“The pro-Israel community and our membership continue to have deep reservations about Senator Schumer’s speech on the Senate floor last week regarding impediments to peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” Conference Chair Harriet P. Schleifer and CEO William Daroff said in a statement following their meeting with Schumer.

“We believe that at a time when Israel is fighting an existential war, on the embers of the 1,200 innocents massacred on October 7, it is not a time for public criticisms that serve only to empower the detractors of Israel, and which foster greater divisiveness, when unity is so desperately needed,” Schleifer and Daroff added.

On Wednesday, the Conference’s Reform and Progressive member organizations released a statement rebutting Schleifer’s and Daroff’s assessment of Schumer’s meeting.

Rebuttal statement signed by multiple American Jewish groups 

The rebuttal statement was signed by leadership from URJ, Ameinu, Americans for Peace Now, Association of Reform Zionists of America, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Jewish Labor Committee, Women of Reform Judaism, and HIAS.

“We are deeply disturbed by the condemnatory statement issued yesterday by the Conference of Presidents (COP) following a meeting with Majority Leader Schumer. Though the critical COP statement was made in the name of the CEO and President, it claims to speak for COP ‘membership’ when in fact it fails to reflect the diversity of views within the COP,” their statement read.

The rebuttal statement said each COP member has a different take on Schumer’s speech, and many welcomed his critique of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Nonetheless, following Sen. Schumer’s meeting yesterday with COP members, COP leaders chose to independently issue their unduly harsh missive, which was divisive and unfair.

The COP statement does not reflect the views of several member entities that support much of the important content of Schumer’s speech and the rebuttal statement or even those who disagreed with some of what [Schumer] said but understood that this speech was a constructive critique made by one of the most passionate champions of a strong and safe Israel in the US Congress.