March for Israel in Washington, D.C.
OU ADVOCACY CENTER
ADVOCATING FOR OUR COMMUNITY IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL
VISIT OU ADVOCACY
In the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attacks, it was clear that the support of the U.S. government would be essential to Israel’s fight against Hamas. Less than one week later, OU Advocacy represented our community at a meeting with President Biden, where Executive Director Nathan Diament emphasized the critical importance of morally unequivocal rhetoric and concrete military aid.
In the months that followed, OU leaders joined the heads of other national Jewish organizations in multiple meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other top officials. In most instances, the OU was the sole representative of American Orthodoxy.
November 14, 2023, OU Advocacy partnered with other major Jewish organizations to sponsor a rally on the National Mall that called for continued support of Israel in the war against Hamas and the release of all hostages, while more generally standing up against antisemitism.
In January 2024, more than 100 community leaders joined OU Advocacy on a mission to Washington, the first of the year by a national Jewish organization. We met with senior White House officials, senators and representatives to advocate for Israel and for the resources to fight antisemitism in America.
On Day 180 of the hostages’ captivity, OU Advocacy orchestrated the writing and delivery of 180,000 signed letters to the White House demanding the liberation of those who were taken.
The letters, written by members of our community and others, appealed to President Biden to support Israel in every possible way during the war and to increase pressure on Hamas to secure the hostages’ immediate and unconditional release. The letters, which also called for the administration to oppose antisemitism, made national headlines and received a formal response from the White House.
OU Advocacy pursued every avenue to ensure the war effort would be fully backed by the U.S. After our extensive work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the long-awaited Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act became law in the spring, providing $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel. It was the largest U.S. security aid package to Israel in history.
Over the past year, OU Advocacy persistently engaged with top government officials responsible for combating antisemitism within the U.S. In meetings with Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and many others, we pressed for aggressive action both to protect Jewish communities and students and to penalize those who would do us harm.
In addition to the important task of convincing American lawmakers and other government officials to decry antisemitism, OU Advocacy also works to deliver concrete measures that strengthen security at our shuls and schools and hold bad actors accountable.
We are the leading organization behind the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which provides funding for physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations at high risk of terrorist attack. Launched in 2004, the NSGP has delivered millions of dollars in grant money that goes to update the security infrastructure of Jewish schools, community centers and shuls.
OU Advocacy also continues to work with Congress to increase NSGP resources. As a result of our efforts, funding in 2024 was a record $675 million.
OU Advocacy worked closely with the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to produce a series of hearings designed to highlight the spread of antisemitism on American college campuses.
As a result, several university presidents have been dismissed and multiple task forces and committees to further investigate these and related issues have been established.
The first hearing was held on November 14, 2023, the morning of the rally on the National Mall; OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer was among those who testified. The hearing prompted investigations of several universities — including Cornell, Columbia, Wellesley College, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and Cooper Union — uncovering violations of their legal obligation to protect students from antisemitic harassment.
Today, OU Advocacy continues to press for severe financial penalties for those universities that fail to address antisemitism on their campuses.
Though the hearings were important in identifying bad actors, we believe that enacting substantive legislation is a necessary step in the rolling back of antisemitism.
At least one landmark step was taken this year: OU Advocacy helped draft the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which codifies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, thus making it more difficult for those who use an opposition to Zionism to cloak their antisemitism. We worked to get the bill passed by the House and are continuing to push hard to get it passed by the Senate before year’s end.
Additionally, OU Advocacy has been pushing Congress to hold colleges financially accountable for failing to follow federal law that protects the civil rights of Jewish students. We have played an instrumental role in crafting and lobbying for the following bills:
