American Jewish Committee

===Unity pledge===
In October 2011 AJC issued a joint statement with the [[Anti-Defamation League]] urging American Jews to support a Joint Unity Pledge stating: "America's friendship with Israel is an emotional, moral and strategic bond that has always transcended politics." It urged that "now is the time to reaffirm that Israel's well-being is best served, as it always has been, by American voices raised together in unshakeable support for our friend and ally."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://forward.com/israel/144968/proposed-unity-pledge-spurs-more-debate/|title=Proposed Unity Pledge Spurs Debate|last=Guttman|first=Nathan|date=October 27, 2011|work=The Forward|access-date=October 19, 2012}}</ref>

The statement aroused a storm of protest from Jewish opponents of [[2012 United States presidential election|President Obama's re-election]], who perceived it as a call to avoid criticizing the president's policies toward Israel. In the pages of ''[[The Wall Street Journal]],'' former Under Secretary of Defense [[Douglas J. Feith|Douglas Feith]] asked: "Since when have American supporters of Israel believed that a candidate's attitudes toward Israel should be kept out of electoral politics? Since never."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Feith |first1=Douglas J. |title=Israel Should Be a U.S. Campaign Issue |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203687504577005812793260468 |access-date=9 May 2020 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=November 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190731170802/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203687504577005812793260468 |archive-date=2019-07-31 |url-status=unfit}}</ref>{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}} David Harris responded that the statement was intended to preserve the tradition of bipartisan support for Israel and prevent it from becoming "a dangerous political football." While Harris recognized the right of anyone in the Jewish community to take a partisan position, he stressed the need for "strong advocacy in both parties" at a time of looming international difficulties for the Jewish state.<ref>{{cite news|last=Robert Wiener|title=In NJ talk, AJC director defends 'unity' pledge|url=http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/7318/in-nj-talk-ajc-director-defends-unity-pledge#.UjneMz9aHRY|access-date=16 November 2013|newspaper=[[NJ Jewish News]]|date=November 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202152055/http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/7318/in-nj-talk-ajc-director-defends-unity-pledge#.UjneMz9aHRY|archive-date=2 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>