March 7, 2022 — New York
American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris expressed today, in a letter to President Joe Biden, “unreserved support for American leadership in mobilizing global solidarity and assistance for Ukraine.”
“You can count on the full support of American Jewish Committee and our hundreds of thousands of advocates across the country,” wrote Harris, “as the U.S. considers additional steps to support Ukraine’s struggle to defend itself and to meet the urgent needs of its citizens, as well as to punish Moscow and to isolate it from the global economy.”
In 1991, AJC was the first Jewish organization outside Ukraine to call on President George H.W. Bush to recognize the country's independence from Moscow.
Since then, AJC has stood in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and staunchly supported a free and democratic Ukraine, including becoming the only group in the world to set up a temporary office in Kyiv during the Maidan Revolution in 2014, and has been outspoken in criticizing Russia’s brazen invasion of the country this year.
“The stakes could not be higher for the very future of a democratic country, which was assured of its sovereignty and territorial integrity when it signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, together with the United States, United Kingdom, and Russian Federation,” Harris added.
The full text of the AJC letter to President Biden follows:
Dear President Biden,
As Russian President Putin continues to wage a ruthless war against another sovereign nation, and as the casualty figures mount and the refugee flows increase, we wish to express our full, unreserved support for American leadership in mobilizing global solidarity and assistance for Ukraine.
We believe the stakes could not be higher for the very future of a democratic country, which was assured of its sovereignty and territorial integrity when it signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, together with the United States, United Kingdom, and Russian Federation. And, as you yourself have articulated so compellingly, our global security architecture hangs in the balance as well in the throes of President Putin’s brinkmanship, war crimes, and nuclear threats.
Therefore, as you consider additional steps to support Ukraine’s struggle to defend itself and to meet the urgent needs of its citizens, as well as to punish Moscow and to isolate it from the global economy, you can count on the full support of American Jewish Committee and our hundreds of thousands of advocates across the country.
Mr. President, we wish you every strength and success in this defining hour. Our prayers are with you, as are the hopes and aspirations of so many freedom-loving people in Ukraine, the United States, and throughout the world.
Respectfully,
David Harris
Chief Executive Officer
American Jewish Committee
