At moments of uncertainty, one principle guides the Jewish people and our allies: We show up.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations traveled to Baku this week. We met with senior officials, visited Jewish communal institutions that have operated for generations, and engaged a leadership that views its partnership with the United States and Israel as strategic, not symbolic.
From there, we flew to Jerusalem, where our 51st annual leadership mission now begins.
Diplomacy does not live in theory. Solidarity does not rest in slogans. Relationships grow when leaders sit across a table, look one another in the eye, and make commitments that endure beyond press releases. At a time when the Middle East and Eurasia are shifting rapidly, and adversaries test the resolve of both the United States and Israel, presence projects strength.
Our visit to Azerbaijan reflected strategic necessity and moral clarity. Israel’s security, America’s interests, and Jewish continuity depend on strong partnerships and on not standing alone.
Azerbaijan remains an often overlooked but essential ally. It is home to one of the oldest and most vibrant Jewish communities in the Muslim world, evidence that coexistence can endure, even in difficult neighborhoods. It stands at a geopolitical crossroads, bordering Russia and Iran and positioned between Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
Energy corridors
Energy corridors run through its territory. Intelligence cooperation carries real operational value.
As China expands its reach in search of markets and resources, trusted partnerships in this region shape outcomes far beyond its borders.
Strengthening those ties sustains stability and deters aggression. In a volatile neighborhood, miscalculation carries consequences measured in lives, not headlines.
In Israel, the weight of October 7, 2023, still presses heavily on daily life. Families move through their routines with photographs of loved ones never far from reach.
We will meet with families of hostages, community leaders, and officials who secure Israel’s borders and plan for the future.
Israel prevails on the battlefield, yet it bears scars that will endure; no speech can capture what Israeli families experienced. Presence communicates more than prepared remarks.
With the recovery and burial of the final Israeli hostage, Ran Gvili, the nation enters a painful moment of closure. His return to his family and to the soil of Israel breaks the heart, yet it fulfills a sacred obligation. The Jewish people do not abandon their own.
From the earliest days of this crisis, Jewish communities across the globe spoke with one voice, saying, “Bring them home.” That call rose above politics and geography. It reminded us that we are one people, bound by responsibility as much as by memory. Standing with those families now affirms our character.
Israel confronts threats on multiple fronts. Hamas, attempting to wage a war of attrition against the IDF along the Yellow Line, must not rebuild in Gaza. Hezbollah seeks to rearm in the north, with Iranian backing. The Houthis disrupt shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Alliances shift across the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf. Old assumptions no longer hold. Reliable friends matter more than ever.
Struggle for freedom
Iran projects violence across the region even as internal unrest exposes the regime’s fragility.
The struggle for freedom extends beyond Israel’s borders. In recent months, thousands of courageous Iranians have taken to the streets demanding dignity and basic rights, only to face brutal repression. Reports of thousands killed underscore a stark truth: The regime that threatens Israel and destabilizes the region does not speak for its people, whose courage merits recognition and solidarity from all who value liberty.
Security grows through partnership. Resilience grows through community. Hope endures because people choose to stand together, especially when doing so carries risk.
From Baku to Jerusalem, from American Jewish communities to allies abroad, our message remains consistent. We will strengthen the relationships that protect the United States, Israel, and the Jewish people. We will stand with families in grief. We will support those who fight for freedom. We will not retreat from the world at the very moment engagement matters most.
Presence is power. Unity is strength. That is how the Jewish people endure. That is how alliances weather storms.
Yad b’yad, kulanu b’yachad. Hand in hand, all of us together.
The writers are chair and CEO, respectively, of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the central coordinating body representing 50 national Jewish organizations on issues of national and international concern. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the positions of all member organizations.