The Emergency Committee for Israel is a right-wing
501(c)(4)
A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...
political advocacy
Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to influence public policy, laws and budgets by using facts ...
organization in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The group's
board member
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
s include ''
Weekly Standard
''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "red ...
'' editor
William Kristol
William Kristol (; born December 23, 1952) is an American neoconservative writer. A frequent commentator on several networks including CNN, he was the founder and editor-at-large of the political magazine ''The Weekly Standard''. Kristol is now ...
, former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, and former member, conservative writer
Rachel Abrams
Rachel Abrams (née Decter; January 2, 1951 – June 7, 2013)
, wife of
Elliott Abrams
Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer, who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He is current ...
. Noah Pollak is its executive director.
Kristol said his group, created in mid-2010, was inspired by the new "liberal"
J Street
J Street ( he, ג'יי סטריט) is a nonprofit liberal advocacy group based in the United States whose stated aim is to promote American leadership to end the Arab–Israeli and Israeli–Palestinian conflicts peacefully and diplomatica ...
group, "whose ability to amplify criticism of the Israeli government showed the power of a small new group—if on the other side of the debate." Pollak said, shortly after the group's creation, that it planned to be involved in a number of congressional races. "We want to be hard-hitting; we want to get into the debate and shake things up and make some points in a firm way", he said.
As it started up, the organization ran ads opposing the elections of U.S. Senate candidate
Joe Sestak
Joseph Ambrose Sestak Jr. (born December 12, 1951) is an American politician and retired U.S. Navy officer. He represented in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in ...
and U.S. House of Representatives candidates
Rush D. Holt, Jr.
Rush Dew Holt Jr. (born October 15, 1948) is an American scientist and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1999 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party and son of former West Virginia U.S. Senator Rush D. Holt Sr ...
,
Mary Jo Kilroy
Mary Jo Kilroy (born April 30, 1949) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party from Ohio. She was defeated in her November 2, 2010 re-election bi ...
, and
John F. Tierney
John F. Tierney (born September 18, 1951) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1997 to 2015. He is a Democrat who represented the state's , which includes the state's North Shore and Cape Ann ...
, portraying them as "openly hostile" to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
In October 2011, the committee produced a video portraying
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to t ...
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' columnist Richard Cohen referred to the video and said he found no evidence of antisemitism during his two visits to the demonstration site.
In February 2012, the committee produced a 30-minute documentary covering President Barack Obama's record on Israel. The documentary was viewed 200,000 times in its first week.
In June 2012, the committee ran an ad encouraging the US Government to immediately put an end to Iran's nuclear program. The ad ran in New York; Washington, DC; and additional markets.
In October 2012, the group released a
robo-call
A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public service or emer ...
which combined clips of Obama from 2009 and 2011 and a clip from a speech
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
gave in 2012, in a form that appeared as if the two were having a debate. Pollak said that month that his group would release further "secret Obama—Netanyahu debate recordings".
In January 2013, the grouped launched a site opposing the nomination of
Chuck Hagel
Charles Timothy Hagel ( born October 4, 1946)