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U.S. Jewish Organizations Are Reassessing "Allies" after Oct. 7 Betrayals
(Times of Israel) Zev Stub - American Jewish organizations are rethinking the value of their coalition-building efforts after many long-time allies turned against Israel or stayed silent following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations William Daroff told the Times of Israel Thursday. "The day after the attack, we were punched in the gut a second time when we saw how many of our erstwhile friends and allies, with whom we'd marched and supported, abandoned us....The unions that we had stood with abandoned us." Daroff, whose organization represents 50 mainstream Jewish organizations from across the political spectrum, said he sees a new level of unity and willingness to cooperate among its members. "October 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." "Things like anti-Israel encampments and Jewish students being harassed are not happening anymore," Daroff said. "Campuses are much calmer now than they were previously." Much of that, he said, is because the Trump administration took strong steps to enforce Title VI protections against discrimination, including threatening to withdraw federal funding, to force university administrators to clamp down on hate activities on campus. "Those interventions raised the stakes for institutions and literally changed the atmosphere for Jewish students and faculty overnight."