World Jewish Congress

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in 1936 in Geneva, Switzerland, as an international federation of Jewish communities and organisations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as "the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people."

History

Membership in the WJC is open to all representative Jewish groups or communities, irrespective of the social, political or economic ideology of the community's host country.

The World Jewish Congress headquarters are in New York City, US, and the organization maintains international offices in Brussels, Belgium; Jerusalem, Israel; Paris, France; Moscow, Russia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Geneva, Switzerland. Jewish umbrella organizations in 100 countries are directly affiliated to the World Jewish Congress.

The WJC also maintains a Research Institute based in Jerusalem, Israel. It is involved in research and analysis of a variety of issues of importance to contemporary Jewry, and its findings are published in the form of policy dispatches.

Also operating under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress in Israel, the Israel Council on Foreign Relations has since its inception in 1989 hosted heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers and other distinguished visitors to Israel and has issued several publications on Israeli foreign policy and international affairs, including its tri-annual foreign policy journal, the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs.

According to Wikipedia, the WJC's current policy priorities include combating anti-Semitism, especially the rise of "neo-Nazi" parties in Europe, providing political support for Israel, opposing the "Iranian threat", and dealing with the legacy of the Holocaust, notably with respect to property restitution, reparation and compensation for "Holocaust survivors", as well as with Holocaust remembrance.