“Jeremy has all the credentials the Minor Presidents’ Conference needs: limited influence, frustrated fundraising goals, some token friends in high places…”
Washington, June 1 – The director of a “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobbying group that somehow manages never to support pro-Israel or pro-peace candidates or policies, and which pretends to exercise influence but in fact exerts no discernible policy impact despite sympathetic voices in prominent media, will take the helm of an umbrella group of associations that also produce little to no documentable effect on American Jewish life.
The Conference of Presidents of Minor Jewish Organizations announced Wednesday that Jeremy Ben-Ami of the progressive J-Street organization will assume the Conference chairmanship in September. He will succeed Rabbi Levi Wilensky of the Mikva Association of Nassau County, a not-for-profit that funds and manages ritual baths in western Long Island.
“This is an exciting achievement for J-Street,” gushed Ben-Ami at a press conference that CNN, MSNBC, and CBS covered, but that most real news outlets ignored. “I hope to leverage J Street’s impressive list of accomplishments to help lead our organizations to a better place, even if the vast majority of the constituency in this umbrella group belong to folks who, in their ignorance or wickedness, disagree with J Street politically.”
The Conference of Presidents of Minor Jewish Organizations took form in response to its much-more-prominent predecessor the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, established in 1956 and comprising 51 member groups. The “minor” Conference, in contrast, emerged ten years ago and consists of more than a thousand member organizations, primarily local initiatives and charities with no lasting national presence or influence, even if some do on occasion appear in news items of national significance, such as the venue of an antisemitic attack. In that sense, commented Rabbi Wilensky, Ben-Ami’s selection as chairman makes perfect sense.
“He’s a worthy successor,” stated Wilensky. “Jeremy has all the credentials the Minor Presidents’ Conference needs: limited influence, frustrated fundraising goals, some token friends in high places, a knack for invoking universal values to support a niche agenda, and a mission that inherently limits the relevance or appeal of his organization to the vast, vast majority of the target community, among other qualifications.”
The Minor Presidents’ Conference has featured as a footnote to numerous instances of collective action on the part of the US Jewish community, including appearing as signatories on various open letters of fleeting prominence; sending panelists to participate in discussions that attracted almost ten people; and sat in on meetings between Jewish activists with actual, substantial influence and mid-level government officials.
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