Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) is an Israeli research institute specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy founded in 1976. Currently, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs's research portfolio consists of five primary initiatives: the Institute for Contemporary Affairs (ICA), Defensible Borders Initiative, Jerusalem in International Diplomacy, Iran and the New Threats to the West, and Combating Delegitimization.[4] More broadly, the think-tank concentrates on the topics of Iran, Radical Islam, the Middle East, Israel, the Peace Process, Jerusalem, Anti-Semitism, and World Jewry.[5] Its publications include the academic journal Jewish Political Studies Review and the email-distributed Daily Alert, a daily regional news summary. The research institute is a registered non-profit organization and produces content in English, Hebrew, French, and German.[6]

Not to be confused with Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Founded1976[1]
FounderDaniel J. Elazar[1]
TypePublic Policy Think Tank
Location
Key people
Dore Gold (President, 2000 - 2015 & 2016 - present)[3]
Websitejcpa.org
JCPA building in Katamon

The JCPA is considered to be politically neo-conservative.[7] It is being financed to a large degree by Sheldon Adelson, a steadfast supporter of Jewish settlement of the West Bank.[8]

History

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs was established in 1978 by Daniel Elazar as an umbrella organization encompassing the Center for Jewish Community Studies and the Jerusalem Institute for Federal Studies. Elazar personally raised most of the funds for the operation of the organization and the restoration of an historic building on Tel Hai Street in Jerusalem, named in honor of the Milken family.[9] The building, Beit Milken, served as the Embassy of Uruguay from 1957 to 1980, when Uruguay decided to move their embassy to Tel Aviv.[10] In 1989, the 1,200 ton building was moved 16 meters on rails to reach the site it currently occupies.[11]

Dr. Dore Gold, Israel's former ambassador to the UN and former foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, headed the Jerusalem Center from 2000[12] to 2015, when he took a leave of absence to become director-general of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[13] Gold returned as president of the Jerusalem Center.[14]

Political orientation

The JCPA has been described as neo-conservative.[7] It has been headed since 2000 by "Netanyahu confidante" Dore Gold.[15] In 2015 Haaretz identified Sheldon Adelson as "one of the main financers of JCPA in recent years";[15] Adelson was an American billionaire casino magnate, staunch supporter of Jewish settlement of the West Bank and biggest contributor to US Republicans in the 2018 US midterm elections during President Donald Trump's mandate.[8]

Institutes

Institute for Contemporary Affairs

The Jerusalem Center founded the Institute for Contemporary Affairs (ICA) jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation.[16] The current director of the ICA is Ambassador Alan Baker.[17] Through this outlet, the JCPA publishes Jerusalem Issue Briefs and Jerusalem Viewpoints.[18] They also publish the twice-yearly Strategic Perspectives, special reports presenting studies on Israeli security and diplomacy topics by the Contributing Editors board of the ICA.[19]

Institute for Global Jewish Affairs

In 2008, JCPA founded the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs in response to growing international anti-Semitism. Directed by Manfred Gerstenfeld, the institute addresses a variety of topics related to Jewish communities around the world.[20]

The institute helps direct the "Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism Project" and its associated monthly publication "Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism," both of which attend to global anti-Semitism.[21]

Conferences

On March 24, 2014, the Jerusalem Center held a conference entitled "Europe and Israel: A New Paradigm." The conference focused on the complicated relationship between Israel and Europe, including topics such as economics and the BDS movement, security and anti-Semitism. The conference was well attended and received a significant amount of press, including articles in The Times of Israel,[22] The Jerusalem Post,[23] J-Wire,[24] Ynetnews,[25] and CBN News.[26]

Programs and initiatives

Iran and the New Threats to the West

This program focuses on security threats posed by Iran to Israel and the West.[27] The program began with a publication entitled "Referral of Iranian President Ahmadinejad on the Charge of Incitement to Commit Genocide," authored by Dore Gold and Elie Wiesel, among others.[28] The publication was created in response to multiple threats directed toward Israel by the Iranian leader, including a 2006 declaration that "Israel should be wiped off the map".[29] The JCPA continues to monitor security threats posed by Iran in the post-Ahmadinejad era with this program.

Publications
  • Jewish Political Studies Review, a biannual academic journal that describes itself as "dedicated to the study of Jewish political institutions and behavior, Jewish political thought, and Jewish public affairs"[30]
  • Daily Alert, a daily news summary and analysis concerning Israel, Iran, radical Islam, and other regional security issues distributed through email for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations[31]
  • "Changing Jewish Communities," which is less focused on global anti-Semitism and addresses issues related to global Jewish communities[32]
  • Jewish Environmental Studies, which analyzes Jewish environmental thought through the Bible and classic Jewish texts[33]

See also
  • NGO Monitor (Non-governmental Organization Monitor), Jerusalem-based NGO, which analyzes the output of international NGOs from a pro-Israel perspective. Run between 2001-2007 by the JCPA.

References
  1. "Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: About Daniel J. Elazar". Jcpa.org. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  2. "Contact Us". JCPA. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  3. "About the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs". JCPA. 2010. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  4. "About the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs," Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, http://jcpa.org/about/
  5. "Books," Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, http://jcpa.org/book/#
  6. "Support Us," Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, http://jcpa.org/support-us/
  7. Noam Shelef (29 January 2016). "False equivalence in Israel". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  8. Jeremy W. Peters (22 September 2018). "Sheldon Adelson Sees a Lot to Like in Trump's Washington". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  9. "The Intellectual World of Daniel Elazar". Jcpa.org. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  10. "Uruguay Embassy Leaves Jerusalem". The Age. 1980-08-18. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  11. "Our Building: A Protected Jerusalem Landmark". Jcpa.org. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  12. "About the Jerusalem Center". jcpa.org. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  13. Keinon, Herb (May 25, 2015). "Dore Gold picked as new Foreign Ministry director-general". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  14. "Dore Gold Returns to Head the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 30 October 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  15. Chemi Shalev (24 October 2015). "Adelson-linked Think Tank Article Preceded Netanyahu's Hitler-Mufti Claim". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  16. "Israelization of Washington Policy: the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs". CambridgeForecast.org. 2004-08-01. Retrieved 2013-09-12.
  17. "About Alan Baker". AmbassadorAlanBaker.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-09-12.
  18. "Institute of Contemporary Affairs". JCPA.org. Retrieved 2013-09-12.
  19. "JCPA Strategic Perspectives". Isn.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  20. "Watch "Institute for Global Jewish Affairs" Video". OVGuide. Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
  21. "UNMASKED JUDEOPHOBIA - The Threat to Civilization". Archived from the original on 2015-01-08. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  22. Ahren, Raphael (March 24, 2014). "EU ready to pay Palestinians who renounce right of return". The Times of Israel.
  23. Keinon, Herb (March 24, 2014). "EU aid package meant to assure Israel that 'Palestine' won't become a failed state". The Jerusalem Post.
  24. Kuttner, Michael (March 27, 2014). "Love/Hate Relationship". J-Wire. Archived from the original on 2014-04-06. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  25. "EU-Israel ties growing, despite disagreements". The Media Line. Ynetnews. March 24, 2014.
  26. Barrow, Tzippe (8 September 2014). "Israeli, EU Trade in Tact [sic] Despite BDS".
  27. "About the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs". Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs.
  28. Weiner, Justus Reid; Rosenne, Meir; Wiesel, Elie; Gold, Dore; Kohn, Irit; Bentsur, Eytan; Naveh, Dan (2006). "Referral of Iranian President Ahmadinejad on the Charge of Incitement to Commit Genocide". ISBN 965-218-055-6. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013.
  29. Marcus, Kenneth L. "Iran's Nuclear Anti-Zionism is Genocidal, not Political" (PDF). InFocus. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  30. "Introduction". Jewish Political Studies Review. 23: 2. Spring 2011.
  31. "Daily Alert," Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, June 13, 2017, http://www.dailyalert.org/
  32. "Publication name Changing Jewish Communities - Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ Stanford University".
  33. "Jewish Environmental Studies: a New Field".
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