As 2021 comes to a close, I wanted to thank you so much for making EMET the intellectual force it has now become.

In 2005, with the Second Intifada raging and Jewish blood running on the streets of Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv, many American Jewish groups had been using their charitable dollars as a forum to “hear from the other side.” I had been invited into many highly prestigious forums where it was obvious that the speakers had an agenda to demonize, delegitimize and subject the state of Israel to a standard that no other state has ever been asked to live up to. These groups eroded support for Israel from the Jewish community and tried to irrevocably damage the way Israel was viewed by our policymakers.

I knew something had to be done quickly. It was then that I started EMET, with the goal of telling the emet—the truth—about Israel’s moral legitimacy among the community of nations. Our goal was to influence the community-at-large and policymakers, using three methods:

1. Seminars and weekly webinars, recently featuring such notables as Former Refusenik and Head of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky to Col. Richard Kemp, who commanded the Royal British Army (RBA) in Afghanistan, to Founder of the Institute for Science and International Security David Albright, to fmr. Turkish MP Aykan Erdemir on January 5, 2022.

2. Articles on the most timely topics of the day, published in news outlets including Commentary, Newsweek, Mosaic, the Jerusalem Post, Israel HaYom, Algemeiner and JNS.org

3. Weekly meetings with members of Congress and their young staffers where oftentimes we inform them about a perspective they are unlikely to have heard from the media or their college professors.

We have come so far since those early days 16 years ago but as you, our readers know, the challenges of defending Israel and the Jewish people are as great as ever. In fact, with the talks in Vienna offering a “fig leaf” behind which Iran is aiming for international legitimacy; a renewed spate of Palestinian attacks within Israel; the United Nations Human Rights Council abut to launch yet another offensive against Israel’s right to defend itself in the war last May; and a horrific growth of antisemitic attacks on US college campuses, the need for an organization such as EMET grows.

Here are a few words from members of our staff about why they believe so strongly in the mission of EMET:

Hussein Aboubakr Mansour: Growing up in Egypt and participating in the Arab Spring, I was exposed to the complexities of Middle Eastern life and politics. The predatory political forces of Islamism and antisemitism are seeking to indoctrinate entire societies, transforming the Middle East into their own violent image. While some Arab societies were able to halt the advance of Islamism, such as Egypt and the UAE, this is not the case in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria or Yemen as they become a part of an Iranian-led axis of terrorism. 

These forces pose existential threats to Israel as they continue to indoctrinate future generations into their toxic ideologies and build a formidable network of advanced terrorist groups able to integrate modern technology in their operations. Working for EMET allows me to bring my voice and my insights to Capitol Hill to help support Israel and the voices of peace in the Middle East and build strong American opposition to Iranian hegemony and terrorism. The work EMET does is extremely important in this time of global and regional uncertainty and major American political changes. EMET holds a firm line of supporting Israel, telling the truth, and carrying unpopular opinions without fear of political cost.”

Naomi Grant: Working for EMET allows me to contribute to what I believe is the most important cause. Aside from educating the general public and Congress on the Middle East, I am proud to work for one of very few nonpartisan institutions that calls out antisemitism in no uncertain terms on both sides of the aisle. We never bow to political correctness—a rarity these days—and are accountable only to the truth. 

It can be exhausting to work for an oftentimes unpopular cause, but we only need to ‘move the needle’ a little bit every day. We're never going to end antisemitism, but when we speak with a Congressional staffer and make them stop and think from a different perspective about Israel, the Middle East or antisemitism, that's a victory. When someone reads our press release and is inspired to contact one of their members of Congress or otherwise take action, that's a victory. When our interns feel more confident speaking out on their college campuses because of their work at EMET, that's a huge victory.