B'nai B'rith

=== Israel and the Middle East ===
{{See|B'nai B'rith Israel}}
Just prior to the creation of the State of [[Israel]], President [[Harry S. Truman]], resisting pressure by various organizations, declined meetings with Jewish leaders. B'nai B'rith President Frank Goldman convinced fellow B'nai B'rith member Eddie Jacobson, long-time friend and business partner of the president, to appeal to Truman for a favor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/granoff.htm |title=A. J. Granoff Papers |publisher=Truman Library |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref> Jacobson convinced Truman to meet secretly with Zionist leader [[Chaim Weizmann]] in a meeting said to have resulted in turning White House support back in favor of partition, and ultimately to de facto recognition of Israeli statehood.<ref>{{cite book|title=B'nai B'rith: The Story of a Covenant|page=243|publisher=Appleton-Century|year=1966|author=Edward E. Grusd}}</ref>

In addition to founding the Jerusalem Lodge in 1888, life in Israel has been a prime focus for the organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/magazines/winter2008/Israeli_Embassy.cfm |title=BBI Recognizes Israeli Embassy for Public Work, Historical Link – B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423142003/http://bnaibrith.org/magazines/winter2008/Israeli_Embassy.cfm |archive-date=2012-04-23 }}</ref> Among the Jerusalem lodge's most noted contributions was the city's first free public library, Midrash Abarbanel.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of library and information science, Volume 39|page=222|publisher=Marcel Dekker Inc.|year=1985|author=[[Allen Kent]] and Harold Lancour}}</ref>

In 1959, B'nai B'rith became the first major American Jewish organization to hold a convention in Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/unbrokencovenant/5CovntBK_pgs15_22.pdf |title=B'nai Brith Unbroken covenant pages 15 – 22 |publisher=B'nai Brith |access-date=2012-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201000208/http://www.bnaibrith.org/unbrokencovenant/5CovntBK_pgs15_22.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-01 }}</ref>

In 1980, nearly all nations removed their embassies from Jerusalem in response to the passage by the Knesset of the Jerusalem Law extending Israeli sovereignty over the entire city. B'nai B'rith responded with the establishment of the B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem to serve as "the permanent and official presence of B'nai B'rith in Jerusalem."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jcpa.org/text/knesset_debates/Basic_Law_Jerusalem_Capital.pdf |title=Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel |publisher=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs |access-date=2012-08-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic10_eng.htm |title=Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel |publisher=Knesset.gov.il |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref>